Men’s Soccer Opens the Season at Home Against Rhode Island

PROVIDENCE, R.I. – The Providence College men's soccer team hosts Rhode Island in its home opener to kick off the 2021 spring season. The game is scheduled for 3:00 p.m. on February 20 on Chapey Field at Anderson Stadium.

Series History vs. Rhode Island
Last Meeting: 2019 – Rhode Island – 2, Providence – 1
All-Time Series: 12-31-4

Scouting the Rams
Rhode Island enters the season in fourth place in the Atlantic 10 Preseason Poll voted by the conference's coaches. In the 2019 season, the Rams held the top spot as the regular season conference champions. They made it to the finals of the A-10 Championship where they defeated Dayton, 1-0, and were crowned Atlantic 10 Champions for the second straight year. They played Syracuse in the first round of the NCAA Tournament where they lost, 3-2. The Rams finished with a 14-4-3 overall record and 7-1 in A-10 play. Rhode Island's top scorer Filippo Tamburini is returning for the Rams. He scored nine goals and added four assists for 22 total points. Goalie, Stefan Schmidt is also returning with a .796 save percentage and 1.00 goals against average in the 2019 season.

Scouting the Friars
The Friars concluded the 2019 season with a 16-7 overall record and a 6-3 mark in BIG EAST play. Providence entered the BIG EAST Tournament as the No. 3 seed and reached the championship game for the fifth time in program history. Providence advanced to the final 16 in the NCAA Tournament before losing to Clemson in overtime. They finished the season with a No. 14 ranking in the United Soccer Coaches Poll, No. 12 in NCAA RPI and No. 11 ranking from TopDrawer Soccer. The team's top returning scorers are Paulo Lima (Lisbon, Portugal) and Davis Smith (Amherst, Mass.). Lima gathered 18 points last season on eight goals and two assists. The midfielder was named to the All-BIG EAST Second Team and BIG EAST All-Tournament Team in 2019. Smith had five goals and four assists for 14 points.

Preseason Poll and Awards
Paulo Lima was voted to the Preseason All-BIG EAST Team entering the spring 2021 season. With one first-place vote, Providence was voted to finish second (20 points) in the East Division of the BIG EAST Preseason Coaches' Poll. The Friars finished in third place last season with an overall record of 16-7 and 6-3 in BIG EAST play. Georgetown, the reigning tournament champion, was selected to finish first with five first-place votes (25 points). Behind PC, St. John's, who finished second in regular season play last season, was picked third (17 points). Connecticut (13 points), Seton Hall (8 points) and Villanova (7 points) finish out the standings for the East Division.

The Friars' Newcomers
The Friars' roster welcomes 11 newcomers for the 2021 spring season. Samuel Biven (Atlanta, Georgia), Lukas Burns (Cinnaminson, N.J.), Gevork Diarbian (Cranston, R.I.), Ryan Gallagher (Safety Harbor, Fla.), Brendan McSorley (Randolph, N.J.), Aidan Melville (Cumberland Foreside, Maine), Jason Pereira (Bloomfield, N.J.) and Armaan Wilson (Kleinburg, Ontario) make up the group of incoming freshmen. Luis Garcia (Gran Canaria, Spain), Jonny Nixon (Cheshire, England), Adam Riis (Hellerup, Denmark) are incoming transfers.

Up Next
The Friars' open up BIG EAST play at UConn in Storrs, Conn. Kick off is set for 2:00 p.m. on Saturday, February 27.

2020-21 Providence College Award Winners
Paulo Lima
-Preseason All-BIG EAST Team

For more updates on the Providence men's soccer program, follow the team on Twitter @PCFriarsMSoccer.

-GO FRIARS!-

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Samuel Biven

Lukas Burns

Gevork Diarbian

Ryan Gallagher

Luis Garcia

Paulo Lima

Brendan McSorley

Aidan Melville

Jonny Nixon

Jason Pereira

Adam Riis

Davis Smith

Armaan Wilson