Pau Ferrer and Herman Aanberg
Jeff Kirik

Men's Soccer Bob Shreve, Assistant Director of Athletics Media Relations

Match Preview: No. 10 Gannon Hosts California (Pa.) on Senior Day

CALIFORNIA (PA) VULCANS (3-10-1, 1-5-0 PSAC West) at No. 10 GANNON GOLDEN KNIGHTS (12-0-2, 5-0-1 PSAC West)
SENIOR DAY
DATE/TIME: Saturday, October 21, 2023 | 3:00 p.m.
STADIUM/LOCATION: McConnell Family Stadium l Erie, Pa.
LIVE STATS
LIVE VIDEO
 
 
THE GANNON-CALIFORNIA (PA) SERIES
Gannon leads 22-7-0
Gannon has won the last six matches against the Vulcans and 10 of the last 11 in a series that first began in 1989. That includes a 5-0 win in the first meeting this year.

Last Meeting: Sept. 30, 2023 – Gannon 5, at California (Pa.) 0 | RECAP
Gannon scored three times in the first half and added two more goals in the second half for the 5-0 road victory. The three first-half goals all came in a seven-minute stretch in the first 21 minutes of the match. James Pool (Hastings, England/Claverham) led the Golden Knights with two goals, while Tinashe Katsande (Norwich, England/Dereham Sixth Form College) had a goal and two assists, Rafa Hyde (São José dos Campos, Brazil) had one goal and one assist, and Samuel Burton (Vantaa, Finland/Makelanrinteen Lukio) contributed the final goal. Herman Aanberg (Hamar, Norway/Wang Toppidrett Oslo) picked up a pair of assists. The Golden Knights were very efficient in their shooting, only leading 12-7 in shots. Samuel Alarcon (Madrid, Spain/Colegio el Valle II) recorded the shutout in goal, finishing with five saves.

ERIE, Pa. – Gannon's path to the PSAC West regular season and the top seed in the PSAC Tournament is now clear. The tenth-ranked Golden Knights battled No. 19 Mercyhurst to a 3-3 tie on Wednesday night at Mercyhurst, leaving the Golden Knights with a three-point advantage in the standings with four matches remaining. They control their won destiny, with three of the four matches at McConnell Family Stadium.

Head coach Bill Colton's crew must avoid a letdown following Wednesday's emotion-packed contest on Saturday, October 21 when California (Pa.) visits McConnell Family Stadium for a 3:00 p.m. match. It is Senior Day, with 14 seniors scheduled to be recognized before the match.

Wednesday's tie left Gannon with a 12-0-2 record overall and 5-0-1 in the PSAC West. That includes a 5-0 win over Cal (Pa.) in this season's first meeting on September 30. This season's start is the best since the 1993 squad opened with 14 straight victories. Gannon had won six games in a row leading up to Wednesday.

The Vulcans come in with 3-10-1 overall ledger and are 1-5-0 in the Western Division. They look to end a six-match losing streak after falling at Slippery Rock on Wednesday, 3-0.

Saturday is Senior Day for the Golden Knights, with 14 players set to be recognized prior to the start of the match.   

Gannon has ridden a high-scoring attack to its high national ranking. The Golden Knights have scored 49 goals this year to rank second in Division II in goals. They have scored 32 goals over the last seven matches. All told 12 players have found the back of the net.

Head coach Billy Colton put his Golden Knights through an early schedule that was not only tough but featured four long road trips that were almost 3,000 miles round trip. Gannon came away with wins over Ashland (3-1) and St. Rose (1-0) along with a 1-1 tie at Saginaw Valley State. The Mercyhurst match was the fifth against an NCAA playoff team in 2022. 

Last Time Out
Nationally-ranked Gannon and Mercyhurst battled for the second time this season on Wednesday on the Mercyhurst campus. The two teams ended up playing to a 3-3 tie, with Gannon holding two goal leads on two occasions at 2-0 and 3-1 before the Lakers rallied. Tinashe Katsande (Norwich, England/Dereham Sixth Form College) scored his 13th goal of the season in the 15th minute, and James Pool (Hastings, England/Claverham) followed with a second goal 12 minutes later. Mercyhurst cut the lead to 2-1 with a goal with seven minutes remaining in the half. Pau Ferrer (Valencia, Spain/ISES Isabel de Villena) boosted the lead back to two goals at 3-1 at the 57:02 mark, but the Lakers scored in the 70th and 81st minute to forge the tie. Samual Alarcon matches his career high with eight saves in goal. The sophomore previously set it in the first meeting, a 5-1 Gannon victory.

Head Coach: Billy Colton is in his fifth season as Gannon's head men's soccer coach in 2023, and his ninth year overall as a member of the staff. He owns a 63-14-6 record with the Golden Knights making the NCAA Division II Tournament in 2019 and 2022. (NOTE: The NCAA did not hold a tournament in 2020 due to COVID-19). It marked the first time Gannon's men's soccer team made consecutive NCAA Tournaments since 1989-90. Colton guided Gannon to a 13-5-2 finish in 2022, picking up his 50th career victory with a 4-3 win over Seton Hill in the PSAC Tournament quarterfinals. He is the second-fastest coach to 50 wins in Gannon annals, exceeded only by Rob Russo who won 60 matches in his first four seasons. However, Colton was limited to just six matches in 2020 due to COVID. He was named the PSAC West Coach of the Year in 2018 after leading the Golden Knights to an 18-3-0 finish, the second-best in school history.
 
Goodbye Seniors
Head coach Billy Colton will bid farewell to 14 seniors appearing on Saturday who will graduate this year. It should be noted that some of the players may have eligibility remaining and could return next season should they choose. The 2023 seniors include: Gonzalo Aparisi (Valencia, Spain/Cambridge House), Lennox Crews (Offenbach, Germany/Leibnizschule), Petter Dyrkorn (Sandvika, Norway/Doenski Videregaaende Skole), Andres Esteban (Valencia, Spain/Cumbres School), Toby Gower (Norwich, England/Long Stratton), Aiden Hicks (Whitby, Ontario/Brooklin), Tinashe Katsande (Norwich, England/Dereham Sixth Form College), Lucas Messing (Wilmington, Vt./Twin Valley), Charlie Petersen (Erie, Pa./McDowell), James Pool (Hastings, England/Claverham), Benjamin Querling (Zuelpich, Germany/Emil-Fischer Gymnasium), Marcus Rathburn (Waterford, Pa./Fort LeBoeuf), Jake Sterio (Mentor, Ohio/Mentor), Hunter Yaple (Erie, Pa./Fort LeBoeuf).

Gannon Remains Tenth in Latest United Soccer Coaches Poll
After dropping 12 spots from seventh to 19th three weeks ago in the United Soccer Coaches Top 25, Gannon has continued to climb in the poll. The Golden Knights jumped six spots to 13th a week later. Thanks to wins over Lock Haven and Seton Hill they moved back into the top ten in tenth place last week, and two more wins over Slippery Rock and California (Pa.) kept the Golden Knights in tenth place this week. The Golden Knights debuted in the Top 25 in ninth place five weeks ago, then moved up two spots to seventh a week later. A 1-1 tie to a Saginaw Valley State team that was in the NCAA Tournament last year led to the drop of 12 spots two weeks ago. In addition they remain second in the Atlantic Region, trailing Charleston (WV).

Orten, Ferrer Sweep PSAC Weekly Awards
The Gannon men's soccer team once again swept the PSAC weekly awards this week. Sverre Orten (Orsta, Norway/Aalesund vgs) was named the PSAC West Athlete of the Week and Pau Ferrer (Valencia, Spain/ISES Isabel de Villena) was the PSAC West Defensive Athlete of the Week. It marks the fourth time Ferrer has been honored by the conference and the second for Orten. A sophomore midfielder from Orsta, Norway, Orten totaled two goals and five assists in the two matches. He had two goals and two assists at Slippery Rock, then assisted on three of the four goals at UPJ. He now has three goals and 10 assists, with the latter figure ranking second on the team and in the PSAC. A redshirt sophomore defender, Ferrer had a goal and three assists in the two wins. The native of Valencia, Spain had a goal and an assist vs. Slippery Rock, scoring the first goal and assisting on the third. He followed that up with two assists at UPJ. In addition he continues to play strong defense as Gannon allowed just one goal and 22 shots in two games. The UPJ shutout was the fourth of the season. He leads the PSAC and Division II in assists with 13, adding three goals.

Golden Knights Among NCAA Division II Scoring Leaders
When the season began the biggest question surrounding Gannon was who would pick up the slack with the loss of All-American Sergio Del Castillo (Madrid, Spain). Del Castillo led Division II in goals last year with 23 and finished with 52 points. Gannon has done just fine without him, thank you. The Golden Knights rank second in the country in goals and lead the PSAC with 49. Twelve different players have scored goals, with Tinashe Katsande (Norwich, England/Dereham Sixth Form College) grabbing the lead after scoring four goals vs. Lock Haven. He now has 13 goals and eight assists for 34 points. He leads the PSAC in goals per game and is tied for sixth in Division II, along with leading the conference in points per game and tied for second nationally. Katsande has climbed into 14th place in career goals (34) and is 14th in career points with 84. James Pool (Hastings, England/Claverham) adds nine goals and five assists for 23 points. Pau Ferrer (Valencia, Spain/ISES Isabel de Villena) has 20 points thanks to four goals and 12 assists. The redshirt sophomore is tied for the top spot in Division II in assists, while teammate Sverre Orten (Orsta, Norway/Aalesund vgs) is third with 11.

Scouting California (Pa.)
When Gannon and California (Pa.) met earlier in the season the Vulcans were on a two-match winning streak. That was snapped when Gannon won 5-0. Now they enter the second meeting with a six-game losing streak that began with that setback. Lack of scoring has been the issue since then as Cal has scored just two goals in that stretch. They've been shut out the last two matches and enter Saturday's game with a 3-10-1 record, including 1-5-0 in the PSAC West.  Andriy Bilous leads the Vulcans with four goals and two assists for 10 points while Jacob Gretz has three goals and three assists. AJ Visco (2.80 GAA) has seen most of the action in goal of late but Payton Smith (2.25 GAA) has also played over 300 minutes.

Next for the Golden Knights
Gannon plays its second straight match at home on Wednesday, October 25 when Slippery Rock visits McConnell Family Stadium. The kickoff is set for 6:00 p.m. That's followed by the final road contest of the regular season at Seton Hill on Saturday, October 28 before the regular season concludes on Friday, November 3 against Pitt-Johnstown.   
 
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Players Mentioned

Sergio Del Castillo

#10 Sergio Del Castillo

M
5' 11"
Senior
Herman Aanberg

#10 Herman Aanberg

M
5' 10"
Junior
Samuel Alarcon

#1 Samuel Alarcon

GK
6' 0"
Sophomore
Cyber Engineering
Gonzalo Aparisi

#31 Gonzalo Aparisi

M
5' 9"
Senior
Petter Dyrkorn

#3 Petter Dyrkorn

D
5' 10"
Senior
Andres Esteban

#45 Andres Esteban

M
5' 6"
Senior
Pau Ferrer

#4 Pau Ferrer

D
5' 9"
Redshirt Sophomore
Computer Science
Aiden Hicks

#34 Aiden Hicks

D
6' 0"
Senior
Lucas Messing

#39 Lucas Messing

D
5' 10"
Senior
Sverre Orten

#23 Sverre Orten

M
5' 9"
Sophomore
Business Administration 

Players Mentioned

Sergio Del Castillo

#10 Sergio Del Castillo

5' 11"
Senior
M
Herman Aanberg

#10 Herman Aanberg

5' 10"
Junior
M
Samuel Alarcon

#1 Samuel Alarcon

6' 0"
Sophomore
Cyber Engineering
GK
Gonzalo Aparisi

#31 Gonzalo Aparisi

5' 9"
Senior
M
Petter Dyrkorn

#3 Petter Dyrkorn

5' 10"
Senior
D
Andres Esteban

#45 Andres Esteban

5' 6"
Senior
M
Pau Ferrer

#4 Pau Ferrer

5' 9"
Redshirt Sophomore
Computer Science
D
Aiden Hicks

#34 Aiden Hicks

6' 0"
Senior
D
Lucas Messing

#39 Lucas Messing

5' 10"
Senior
D
Sverre Orten

#23 Sverre Orten

5' 9"
Sophomore
Business Administration 
M