Coming off a five-win season, the highest number of wins by a Yeshiva men’s soccer team in one season, the Maccabees look poised to commence a rally and cause havoc in the Skyline Conference. Backed by second-year head coach Josh Pransky, Yeshiva is returning a good portion of its nucleus, and the Maccabees hope to continue their upward trend.
“The team should be fun to watch this year. Every single player believes in the team’s ability to compete,” said Pransky. “The culture we are creating is one where when we do things the right way, winning will follow.”
Back from last season’s team includes midfielder Itamar Ben David (Tel-Aviv, Israel, Mikva-Israel). A freshman last season, Ben David led the team and Skyline Conference in goals per game (0.94) and points per game (2.47) en route to being named a second-team All Skyline Conference member. His points per game average not only led the team and Skyline, but was the sixth highest in NCAA Division III last season.
Also back this season is Leon Aboudi (Bala Cynwyd, Pa., Kohelet Yeshiva). After being named second-team All Skyline Conference two years ago, Aboudi had another solid season last year, netting two goals and three assists.
Another key returnee is Ronan Weinberg-Waks (Buenos Aires, Argentina, Escuela Tecnica Ort II). Last season, the defensive juggernaut was solid on the pitch and netted one goal in the process. His stellar play on defense helped minimize the opponent’s attacks at the net.
Other key returnees to the team include Sammy Azair (Los Angeles, Calif., YULA), Sasha Bakal-Schlomann (New York, N.Y., Beacon School), Avi Baron (Teaneck, N.J., Frisch School), Gilad Bengio (Hollywood, Fla., Weinbaum Yeshiva), Joshua Cohen (Columbus, Ohio, Columbus Torah Acad.), Moishi Eisenmann (Amsterdam, Holland, Luzac College), Rafi Friedman (Teaneck, N.J., Frisch School), Joey Krombach (Los Angeles, Calif., YULA), and Naftali Simon (Hollywood, Fla., Weinbaum Yeshiva).
While a solid core of players return to the pitch for the 2014 season, the newcomers include an abundance of talent which is expected to build on an already solid nucleus including forward Adir Alon (Haifa, Israel, Leo Baeck), defenseman Agustin Cygiel (Miami, Fla., Dr. Michael M. Krop), midfielder Aaron Braun (Weston, Fla., David Posnack), goalkeeper Maor Feinstein (Rehovot, Israel, Havat Hanoar Haziony)m and defensemen Benjamin Aboudi (Bala Cynwyd, Pa., Kohelet Yeshiva). Further key newcomers expected to make an impact are Joseph Amihai (Nitzan, Israel, Moshe Aaron Yeshiva), Yitzy Isaac Griner (Boca Raton, Fla., Weinbaum Yeshiva), and Jonathan Zycer (Santiago, Chile, Maimonides School).
The Macabees got off to a great start with a 3-0 victory over Lehman College last Friday afternoon. Yeshiva (1-0-0) scored a goal in the first half and got two in the second half to earn the three goal win. Sophomore Adir Alon scored the first two goals before Itamar Ben David scored one later to secure the win.
Alon’s first of two goals came late in the 11th minute when he broke free from three defenders on the left side of the net and lifted it past the Lehman goalkeeper who came out of the net and was out of position to make the save. The goal was Alon’s first in his college career. After leading 1-0 at halftime, Alon scored again, this one early in the 57th minute to put the Maccabees up a pair. He took a perfect feed from Rafi Friedman and found himself from point blank range. Then in the final seconds of the contest, Ben David put away a penalty kick to seal the win.
Yeshiva outshot Lehman 16-8 overall and 10-4 in shots on goal. Daniel Amar led the Maccabees with four shots, while Alon and Ben David had three each. Lehman was led by Abraham Enahoro with five shots, including two on net.
By YUMACS.com
