INCOMING SYRACUSE SOCCER PLAYERS TO COMPETE IN DEVELOPMENT ACADEMY PLAYOFFS

SYRACUSE, N.Y. – The Orange men’s soccer program will be well represented when the U.S. Soccer Development Academy League playoffs get underway next week. Incoming players Harrison Kendall (Warbeth, Pa.), Alex Bono (Baldwinsville, N.Y.), Stefanos Stamoulacatos (Camillus, N.Y.) and Ben Ramin (Baldwinsville, N.Y.) have all helped their respective squads qualify for the 32-team U-17/18 playoff field.

Kendall has played 17 matches (13 starts) and has one goal for FC Delco, which was placed in Group 1 along with top seed Shattuck-Saint Mary’s, the North Carolina Fusion and Crossfire Premier. Delco is 14-4-9 overall and starts group play Monday, June 25 versus the North Carolina Fusion.

Bono, Stamoulacatos and Ramin are members of Empire United. The club won the Northeast Division with a record of 8-2-0 and received the No. 1 seed in Group 4 on the strength of an 18-6-2 overall mark. The Colorado Rapids, South Carolina United Battery and Dallas Texans make up the rest of the group. Empire faces Dallas Monday in its opening match.

Stamoulacatos and Ramin are two of Empire’s top goal scorers. A midfielder, Stamoulacatos is third on the club with eight goals in 19 games. Ramin has started 21-of-25 matches at forward. He has 11 goals, good for second on the team behind Darren Cooper who has 12.

Bono is the club’s starting goalkeeper. He anchors an Empire defense that has surrendered the fewest goals (24) in the Northeast Division.

Overall, the Academy League playoffs consist of eight four-team groups that were selected at random from the 20 automatic-qualifying teams and 12 wild cards entrants. The eight group winners advance to the U.S. Soccer Development Academy League Finals in Houston, Texas the week of July 16-23.

Press release provided by SU Athletics