2017 WPI Engineers football team

Last updated

2017 WPI Engineers football
WPI wordmark.png
New England Bowl, W 17–3 vs Maritime
Conference New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference
Record9–2 (6–1 NEWMAC)
Head coach
Offensive coordinatorMatt Kelly (1st season)
Defensive coordinator Scott Sperone (1st season)
Captains
  • Lou Garcia
  • Derek Pacheco
  • Black Rice
  • Brendan Hart
  • Sam Malafronte
Home stadiumAlumni Stadium
Seasons
  2016
2018 
2017 New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference football standings
Conf.Overall
Team W L  W L 
Springfield $^  7 0   10 1  
WPI  6 1   9 2  
MIT  5 2   7 3  
Merchant Marine  4 3   6 4  
Catholic University  3 4   5 5  
Coast Guard  1 6   3 7  
Maine Maritime  1 6   1 8  
Norwich  1 6   1 9  
  • $ Conference champion
  • ^ NCAA Division III playoff participant

The 2017 WPI Engineers football team represented Worcester Polytechnic Institute in the 2017 NCAA Division III football season. [1] [2] It marked the Engineers' 128th overall season. The team played its home games at Alumni Stadium in Worcester, Massachusetts. They were led by eighth-year head coach Chris Robertson. This was the first season that WPI competed in the New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) for football.

Contents

The Engineers finished the regular season with eight victories and two losses. The eight wins is the second most in school history (the Engineers posted nine wins in 1992), tying the 1983, 1989, and 1990 seasons. [3] WPI was selected to host the New England Bowl, making it their third postseason appearance in school history. The Engineers defeated Maritime 17–3 to win their first bowl game in school history. [4]

Personnel

Coaching Staff

NamePositionJoined staff
Chris Robertson Head coach 2010
Matt Kelly Offensive coordinator 2014
Scott Sperone Defensive coordinator 2017
Brian Wehler offensive line 2016
Galen Holmes Defensive line / special teams coordinator2007
Dan Ross Running Backs 2016
Zach BesawOutside Linebackers 2016
Kyle Bernard Wide receivers 2017
Howard BradleyAssistant Defensive Backs 2017
Mike KellyAssistant offensive line 2017
Brian MurtaghDefensive Assistant2017

Roster

2017 WPI Engineers Roster

Quarterback

  •  3 Chris Hartford – Freshman
  • 10 Stuart Campbell – Sophomore
  • 12 Blake Rice – Senior
  • 14 Jack Hughes – Sophomore
  • 16 Eric Cosmopulos – Senior
  • 20 Julian Nyland – Sophomore

Running Back

  •  4 Sean McAllen – Sophomore
  •  7 Connor Field – Sophomore
  • 26 Zach Uglevich – Sophomore
  • 35 Jackson Brandin – Sophomore
  • 42 Stephen Peterson – Sophomore
  • 44 Connor Sakowich – Junior
  • 48 Lain Zembek – Junior

Fullback

  • 45 Greg Stanton – Sophomore

Receiver

  •  3 Alex Domond – Junior
  •  5 Mike Montano – Sophomore
  •  8 Spencer Hoagland – Freshman
  • 10 Jake Vanscoy – Freshman
  • 11 Mitjon Celaj – Senior
  • 13 William Kopellas – Sophomore
  • 15 Matt Nicholson – Junior
  • 21 Clark Ewen – Sophomore
  • 22 Romelle Jack – Junior
  • 23 Ben Emrick – Sophomore
  • 24 Skip Scott – Freshman
  • 25 Nate Grunbeck – Sophomore
  • 28 Tristan Carlton – Junior
  • 30 Corey Coogan – Senior
  • 39 Justin Coppolino – Senior
  • 80 Brendan Chipman – Sophomore
  • 81 Eric Fryer – Junior
  • 82 Billy Mitchell – Sophomore
  • 83 Zach Bellion – Junior
  • 85 Matt Bressette – Sophomore
  • 86 Nic Rossi – Sophomore
  • 88 Austin Pesce – Sophomore

Tight End

  • 19 Jacob Steinman – Freshman
  • 31 Marcus Pritchard – Junior
  • 87 Keeghan O'Leary – Junior
 

Offensive Lineman

  • 53 Connor Murphy – Sophomore
  • 56 Steven Dentato – Sophomore
  • 60 Kevin Moore – Freshman
  • 61 Ryan Michaud – Freshman
  • 62 Brendan Harty – Senior
  • 63 Anthony Wilkens – Senior
  • 65 Nick Day – Junior
  • 66 Reid Bailey – Sophomroe
  • 67 Paul DeMarco – Senior
  • 68 James Bonner – Sophomore
  • 69 Vince Lucca – Sophomore
  • 70 Peter Rakauskas – Sophomore
  • 71 Isaac Patry – Sophomore
  • 72 Troy Sullivan – Sophomore
  • 76 TJ Cooper – Freshman
  • 77 Jordan Hartely – Sophomore
  • 78 Sullivan Boyd – Freshman

Defensive Lineman

  • 48 Diego Gonzalez Villalobos – Freshman
  • 52 Max Murphy – Sophomore
  • 56 Matt Finn - Freshman
  • 75 Joe Kerkach – Sophomore
  • 79 Michael Laks – Freshman
  • 89 Tommy Feraco – Freshman
  • 90 Jack Gerulskis – Freshman
  • 92 Mike McGoff – Sophomore
  • 94 Dereck Pacheco – Senior
  • 95 Nabeel Tokatli – Senior
  • 97 Lou Duh – Freshman
  • 98 Brandon Malarney – Sophomore
  • 99 Luca Cerasani – Junior
 

Linebacker

  •  1 Blayne Merchant – Junior
  •  9 Larry Cafaro – Junior
  • 18 Nick Samuelson – Sophomore
  • 28 Zach Sasso – Freshman
  • 32 Mason Ocasio – Freshman
  • 34 Dan Hoag – Sophomore
  • 36 Michael Bahnan – Senior
  • 40 Francis Lubega – Junior
  • 41 Tim Bill – Senior
  • 46 Isaac Stilwell – Freshman
  • 47 Anthony Fusco – Sophomore
  • 50 Sam Malafronte – Junior
  • 51 Nick Ostrowski – Sophomore
  • 54 Carter McLellan – Sophomore
  • 55 Caleb Holmberg – Sophomore
  • 57 Brent Whitlock – Sophomore
  • 58 Greg Kaleshian – Freshman
  • 59 Stephen Lauro – Sophomore
  • 60 Jim Zickl – Freshman
  • 74 Sean Dandeneau – Freshman
  • 93 Matthew Elliott – Sophomore

Defensive Back

  •  2 Kyle Havey – Junior
  •  5 Adam Klosner – Freshman
  •  6 Collin Saunders – Junior
  •  8 Sam Casey – Sophomore
  • 10 Jordan Rosenfeld – Freshman
  • 14 Brian Mahan – Junior
  • 17 Lou Garcia – Senior
  • 19 Dominick Timpanaro – Sophomore
  • 20 Aaron Whitehouse – Freshman
  • 21 Chris Ferrari - Freshman
  • 24 Tim McQuade – Sophomore
  • 26 Hunter Lutte – Freshman
  • 27 Aaron Hartford - Senior
  • 29 Zach Ahrens – Sophomore
  • 33 David Barber - Sophomore
  • 37 Grant Gilbert – Sophomore
  • 38 Tim Ryan – Freshman
  • 43 Steven Mey – Sophomore
  • 45 Johann Bradley – Freshman

Kicker/Punter

  • 16 Bruce Wade – Freshman
  • 84 Spencer Herrington – Junior

Sources:

Schedule

The 2017 schedule was officially released on June 29, 2017. WPI faced all seven New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) opponents: Catholic, Coast Guard, Maine Maritime, MIT, Merchant Marine, Norwich, and Springfield. They also scheduled three non-conference games: Anna Maria of the Eastern Collegiate Football Conference (ECFC), Becker of the Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC), and RPI of the Liberty League.

On November 13, 2017, the Engineers were selected to host Maritime of the Eastern Collegiate Football Conference (ECFC) in the New England Bowl. [5]

DateTimeOpponentSiteResultAttendance
September 17:30 p.m. Anna Maria *W 48–02,504
September 91:00 p.m. RPI *Dagger-14-plain.png
  • Alumni Stadium
  • Worcester, MA (Transit Trophy Game)
L 14–362,645
September 166:00 p.m. Becker *
  • Alumni Stadium
  • Worcester, MA
W 38–01,640
September 232:30 p.m.at Springfield
L 10–423,574
September 3012:00 p.m. Maine Maritime
  • Alumni Stadium
  • Worcester, MA
W 45–0694
October 71:00 p.m.at Catholic University W 31–141,217
October 212:30 p.m. Merchant Marine
  • Alumni Stadium
  • Worcester, MA
W 41–7786
October 2812:00 p.m.at MIT
W 24–211,310
November 412:00 p.m. Coast Guard
  • Alumni Stadium
  • Worcester, MA
W 44–161,211
November 111:00 p.m.at Norwich W 42–71,000
November 186:00 p.m. Maritime
W 17–31,199
  • *Non-conference game
  • Dagger-14-plain.pngHomecoming
  • All times are in Eastern time

Awards and honors

Weekly awards

NEWMAC Football Offensive Athlete of the Week

NEWMAC Football Defensive Athlete of the Week

NEWMAC Football Special Teams Athlete of the Week

D3football.com Team of the Week

D3football.com Play of the Week

Postseason awards

NEWMAC Special Teams Athlete of the Year [7]

NEWMAC All-Conference First Team [7]

NEWMAC All Conference Second Team [7]

NEWMAC All-Sportsmanship Team [7]

D3football.com All-East Region First Team [8]

Worcester Area Football Association Co-Offensive Player of the Year [9]

Worcester Area Football Association Steve "Merc" Morris All-Star Team [9]

New England Football Writers Division II/III All-New England Team [10]

CoSIDA Academic All-District Football Team (DIII) [11]

References

  1. "WPI football schedule and results".
  2. "2017 WPI Football Schedule - WPI Athletics - WPI Athletics".
  3. "McAllen and Garcia Help Send Football to 42-7 Victory in Regular Season Finale at Norwich - WPI Athletics - WPI Athletics". athletics.wpi.edu. November 12, 2017. Retrieved November 13, 2017.
  4. "Football Earns First Postseason Win, Defeats Maritime (NY) in New England Bowl Series - WPI Athletics - WPI Athletics". athletics.wpi.edu. November 18, 2017. Retrieved November 20, 2017.
  5. "Football to Host SUNY Maritime Saturday Night in New England Bowl Series Matchup - WPI Athletics - WPI Athletics". athletics.wpi.edu. November 13, 2017. Retrieved November 13, 2017.
  6. "Springfield Tabbed as Football Preseason Favorites for Inaugural Season". NEWMAC. August 29, 2017. Retrieved September 2, 2017.
  7. 1 2 3 4 "NEWMAC Announces 2017 Football Postseason Awards After Successful Inaugural Season". NEWMAC. November 15, 2017. Retrieved November 20, 2017.
  8. "D3football.com 2017 All-East Region Team". D3football. December 5, 2017. Retrieved December 9, 2017.
  9. 1 2 Toland, Jennifer (November 28, 2017). "Jennifer Toland: Holy Cross men's basketball team excited for trip to Northern Ireland". telegram.com. Retrieved December 9, 2017.
  10. Crosley, Roger. "2017 All-New England College Division Release" (PDF). New England Football Writers. Retrieved December 9, 2017.
  11. "Academic Football 2017" (PDF). November 16, 2017. Retrieved December 9, 2017.