New Era of Bonnies Men’s Soccer Begins Thursday

The St. Bonaventure University men’s soccer team kicks off the 2025 campaign on Thursday, Aug. 21, when it hosts Little Three rival Niagara at 6:00 p.m. at the Marra Athletics Complex.

Thursday marks the beginning of a new era for Bonnies men’s soccer, as it will be the first contest under new head coach Mick Giordano.

Giordano joined the Bonnies in April after spending the previous five seasons at UNC Asheville, where he led the Bulldogs to back-to-back Big South Tournament appearances for the first time in program history. He also guided UNC Asheville to the Big South Tournament finals in 2023.

MEET THE TEAM

WHO’S BACK

Sixteen players return from last year’s squad, including graduate Gabriel Addo (two assists); seniors Nicolas Pucci (60 saves), Zach McBennett (Syracuse, N.Y.), Dean Mercer (17 games), and Avery Dreasky (eight games); juniors Callum Shillington (three assists), Luc Finelli (16 games), Daniel Helle (16 games), and Alex Ohmart (Peoria, Ariz.); and sophomores Ben Choudhry (two starts), Xavier Davidson (10 games), Neshawn Sutherland (15 games), Harry Booth (Dubai, United Arab Emirates), Yaseen Khaled (Mequon, Wis.), Christopher Mularadelis (Aberdeen, N.J.), and Drew Leardini (Youngstown, N.Y.).

WHO’S NEW

Giordano’s first recruiting class at St. Bonaventure features 13 newcomers for the 2025 season. The group includes graduate transfers Jesper van Halderen (Ursem, Netherlands), Seth Hammond (Winchester, Va.), Ethan Streeter (Bristol, United Kingdom), and Ricardo Rittersberger Galan (Weinheim, Germany); junior transfers Hugo Berville (Villejuif, France) and Kyle Macfarlane (Glasgow, Scotland); sophomore transfer Ritter Sundby (Hood River, Ore.); and freshmen Benjamin Haynes (Montreal, Quebec), Brendan Sheehan (Avon Lake, Ohio), Etienne Godin (Montreal, Quebec), Bryce Strumeier (Seaside Heights, N.J.), Harrison Nitz (Frisco, Texas), and Felix Schöne (Leipzig, Germany).

DEFEND HOME TURF

The Bonnies finished last season with a 3-3-2 record at the Marra Athletics Complex.

During the 2024 campaign, Bona’s put together a stretch of five straight games without a loss at home – Le Moyne (T, 1-1), Fordham (T, 0-0), Robert Morris (W, 2-1), Davidson (W, 2-1), and Bucknell (W, 4-1).

This season, the Bonnies will host Niagara, Mercyhurst (Aug. 31), Canisius (Sept. 10), George Washington (Sept. 27), Rhode Island (Oct. 4), George Mason (Oct. 11), and La Salle (Oct. 25).

BERMINGHAM JOINS COACHING STAFF

Coach Giordano announced the addition of Danny Bermingham to the coaching staff in July.

Bermingham arrives at St. Bonaventure after serving as an assistant coach at Wisconsin last season, helping the Badgers to a 7-5-3 record.

A standout goalkeeper at Northern Kentucky, Bermingham earned Horizon League Goalkeeper of the Year honors following the 2021 spring season after posting a 7-2 record in nine starts.