St. Clair men’s soccer team adds six local standouts
It’s a soccer recruiting class that will get a chance to make an immediate impact.
St. Clair College Saints men’s soccer head coach Mike Baraslievski introduced six local prospects who will join the team for the 2017-18 on Wednesday.
“We’ve got a maximum of seven players coming back and, more realistically, five or six,” Baraslievski said. “So, it’s a big turnover.”
The Saints have added Maranatha Christian Academy product Josh Hunter, Holy Names high school’s Sergei Ouditt, St. Joseph high school’s Michael Roncone, Villanova high school’s Christopher Spadafora, Kennedy High School’s Braeden Vaile and Riverside high school’s Hassan Zaitoun for the new season.
“We’ll be a young team, but it seems like it’s a good group of talented players,” Baraslievski said. “I think all of them will be key and in key positions. If they can (adapt), based on their talent level, they’ll be key players.”
There is a lot of trust players put in Baraslievski, who is also president of the Windsor FC Nationals.
“He’s a really good coach,” said the 6-1 Roncone, who also plays midfield for FC Nationals and will study business administration and accounting at St. Clair. “I just feel confident playing with him. He brought me to this pathway and I trust him and I think we’re going to have a good year.”
The chance to play early was also a selling point for Vaile.
“That’s what I was looking for,” said the 5-9 Vaile, who plays midfield and will study sports and recreation at St. Clair. “I’m looking to put in the work in preseason, so I can get some good playing time my freshman year.”
Aside from battling in high school, Vaile, Spadafora, Ouditt and Zaitoun played club soccer together for Vardar.
“It’s awesome,” said the 5-9 Ouditt, who will play on the wing and study biomedical engineering technology. “I get to play with the same players I grew up with. We’re going to work as a team and see what we can do.”
The 5-5 Zaitoun, who can play striker or midfield and will enter the motive power technician program, says knowing so many players coming in could speed up the adjustment.
The Saints open training camp Aug. 14 with the OCAA regular season opener set for Sept. 9 against Redeemer.
“I think it’s a cool experience,” said the 6-0 Spadafora, who will play striker and study in the police foundations program. “I’m playing with kids I played with and played against my whole life and now playing on the same team with them at the college level. It’s a new experience and a new chapter.”
The 6-2 Hunter, whose brother Mitchell Hunter just graduated after twice being named an OCAA all-star, knows there will be some growing pains. However, he’s hoping this group can become like the one his brother captained to a first-place West Division finish during last year’s outdoor season and a silver medal during the indoor season.
“When I watched (my brother) play, I really liked the environment of the team and enjoyed watching them play and how they played together,” said the 18-year-old Hunter, a defender who will study in the electromechanical engineering technician program. “Once we get into the game, we’ll build the confidence more and more.”