10/6/26

SCRANTON, Pa. – Fresh off the first Division II win in program history, Lackawanna College men's soccer returns home to take on East Stroudsburg University on Wednesday, October 7^th, with a 3:30pm ET kickoff at Schautz Stadium in Dunmore.
 
It's the second time that the Falcons and Warriors have faced off, with the last match-up ending in a 3-0 loss for the Falcons at ESU on September 9^th. East Stroudsburg outshot Lackawanna, 19-3, and had a 9-3 advantage in corners, scoring three second half goals to pull away. Read the full recap HERE.
 
Game Details
Who: East Stroudsburg University Warriors (6-3-3) at Lackawanna College Falcons (1-7-2)
When: Wednesday, October 7^th, 3:30pm ET
Where: Schautz Stadium; Dunmore, PA
 
Video | Live Stats | Tickets
 
Video Coverage: PSAC Sports Digital Network
Fans who cannot attend in-person can watch along live via the PSAC Sports Digital Network.
 
Live stats: https://lackawannafalcons.com/sidearmstats/msoc/
Live stats coverage is available and will be updated as the game goes on.
 
Tickets: https://lackawannafalcons.com/tickets
Tickets can be purchased ahead via the link above, or in-person at the venue. Tickets are digital and card transactions only, no cash transactions for tickets.
 
The Falcons 
Lackawanna (1-7-2) finally got itself right in a few areas, as the Falcons snapped a scoreless streak dating back almost a month and picked up their first win of the season/their Division II era, beating Pitt-Johnstown by a 1-0 score this past Saturday. The Falcons scored in the 18^th minute off a long cross by Malik Salau (Lagos, Nigeria) that found the foot of Miguel Pereira (Revere, MA), who rocketed the ball past the keeper to give the Falcons the lead. Lackawanna outshot UPJ, 12-10, including a 9-1 advantage on shots on frame, and saw out the win the rest of the way to pick up the win. You can read the full recap HERE. 
 
Pereira finished with four shots, two on target, while Salau had the assist on Pereira's goal. Jozsef Mark Szilagyi (Budapest, Hungary) had two shots, both on target, and Tito Tokunboh-Salako (Columbia, MD) also had two shots on target. Kevin Nievas (West Palm Beach, FL) was in goal for the Falcons for his first game back from injury, and he had one save in the shutout win, his first true clean sheet of the season.
 
On the season, the Falcons have given up 19 goals, an average of just under two per game, while scoring three in ten games this year. Lackawanna has 85 shots, 38 on target (.447), with their opponents posting 141 shots, 47 on target (.333). The Falcons have 27 corner kicks, while their opponents have 56 corners this year. Lackawanna has made 28 saves and forced 35 saves from the opposition.
 
Lackawanna entered last weekend's game having gone over six games since its last goal, dating back to September 5^th against Berkely College (NJ). The goal in the 18^th minute against Pitt-Johnstown snapped the streak at 593 minutes of game time.
 
Pereira leads the Falcons with two goals on ten shots this season in eight games. His first goal of the year came in a 1-1 draw with King's College on September 2^nd. Pereira is a first-year forward, and he recorded his season-high with four shots against UPJ this past weekend. He had no shots in 57 minutes against East Stroudsburg back on September 9^th.
 
The other scorer for the Falcons is Aydin Boyunegmez (Millville, PA), a first-year defender. Boyunegmez's goal came against Berkeley (NJ) in a 2-1 loss on September 5^th. Boyunegmez has played in nine games, starting in three, but exited with an injury against West Chester on September 30^th, and is not expected to be available for the Falcons for the rest of the season. He played the full 90 minutes against ESU the last time around.
 
Junior midfielder Cristian Lopez-Contreras (Guatemala) has an assist on two goals for the Falcons this season. Lopez-Contreras, who has been out with injury for the last five games, has nine shots, five on frame, for the year. He has not played since the draw with Millersville on September 12^th, exiting with an injury just two minutes in. He played 79 minutes without a shot against ESU earlier this season.
 
Tokunboh-Salako leads the Falcons with 12 shots, seven on frame (.583) this season. Tito is a first-year forward, and he played 56 minutes against UPJ, recording two shots, both on target. He had one shot on frame against ESU on September 9^th, very nearly scoring at the end of the first half.
 
Midfielder Wisdom Afrani (Accra, Ghana) has ten shots on the season, with three on-target this year. "Wizzy" has played in ten games, starting in nine. He had a season-high three shots, two on target, against Millersville on September 12^th. He had one shot in the game against ESU on September 9^th. He played in 34 minutes against UPJ.
 
In between the pipes, both Nievas and Rowin Thomas (Abilene, TX) have each started in five games this season. Nievas has allowed four goals this season, making five saves this year. He had two saves, a season-best, against Chestnut Hill College in the season-opener on August 27^th. Nievas earned his first clean sheet in the win against Pitt-Johnstown. His last appearance was against East Stroudsburg on September 9^th, starting the match but coming off in the 16^th minute with one save.
 
Thomas had started the previous five games before the UPJ match, allowing 15 goals in his seven appearances. He has 24 saves this season, posting a season-best six stops against Shepherd on September 19^th. Thomas had two saves in the loss to ESU on September 9^th, giving up three goals on 17 shots faced. He had four saves in a 3-0 loss to West Chester last Wednesday at home.
 
Lackawanna College is coached by Will Flannery, in his first season at the helm and who took over the program in February earlier this calendar year. Flannery has coached and played collegiate soccer for the last ten years, previously serving as assistant coach at Lehigh University before coming to Lackawanna. In his one season with the Mountain Hawks, Lehigh made the Patriot League championship game and had six all-conference selections. Before his time in Bethlehem, Flannery spent seven years at Dickinson College in NCAA Division III. While there, he spent five seasons playing with the Devils, then transitioned into coaching immediately after his senior season concluded. Flannery became the first full-time assistant in program history and helped Dickinson achieve never-before-seen heights, including an NCAA Elite 8 appearance and finishing #6 in the national polls in 2024. He was a captain for three years while playing at Dickinson. Flannery also has experience coaching on the youth level, working with the Lehigh Soccer Academy and Lehigh Valley United Rush.
 
 
The Warriors
East Stroudsburg (6-3-3) is unbeaten in its last seven matches, going 3-0-3 in that stretch. The streak started with the 3-0 win against Lackawanna on September 9^th, and ESU followed that with back-to-back draws with Shepherd and Lock Haven, before rattling off wins against Millersville, West Chester, and Shippensburg. Their last contest was a 1-1 draw last week against Bloomsburg at home on September 30^th. The Warriors outshot the Huskies, 15-14, with each team getting three shots on frame. Bloom scored first on a goal in the 12^th minute, and ESU answered with the equalizer in the 19^th minute. From there, neither team could find the breakthrough, and ESU survived a second half where Bloom outshot East Stroudsburg, 7-4.
 
So far this season, ESU is sitting second in the PSAC East table, on eleven points with a 3-0-2 record. Millersville has 12 points with a 4-1-0 record. West Chester is in third with a 3-2-0 record and nine points, while Shepherd is in fourth at 1-2-2 with five points.
 
This season, ESU has 22 goals scored, averaging just under two goals per game, while their opponents have scored 17 goals, averaging just under 1.5 goals per contest. The Warriors have 175 shots, 70 on target, and hold a .400 SOG percentage on the season. East Stroudsburg's opponents have 141 shots, 61 on target, for a .433 percentage this season. The Warriors have 59 corners this season, while the opposition has 60 corner kicks on the year. The Warriors have 44 saves this season, while forcing 48 saves from their opponents. 
 
Junior forward Steven Arias leads East Stroudsburg this season with seven goals in 12 games on the year. Arias scored a pair of goals against Jefferson, his only game with multiple goals on the year, but then had one goal against Queens on September 5^th. Lately, Arias has scored four goals in the last five games coming into the contest, posting goals against Lock Haven, Millersville, Shippensburg, and Bloomsburg. He had three shots, one on target, in the draw with Bloom. Arias came off the bench in a reserve role against the Falcons on September 9^th.
 
Sophomore forward Jeter Cardona, a Nanticoke graduate, is second on the team with three goals and a team-best four assists, posting ten points this season. Cardona has 23 shots on the year, third on the team, with nine shots on target. Cardona scored his first goal of the year against Mercy on August 27^th, then posted an assist against Gannon on the 30^th. He had a goal against the Falcons on September 9^th, then recorded a goal and an assist against Lock Haven on 9/16. Against Bloomsburg last week, he recorded a shot.
 
Junior forward Ryan Kiernan has three goals and one assist this season in eleven games. Kiernan has eight shots, six on target, for a .750 SOG percentage. Kiernan had back-to-back games with a goal against Shepherd and Lock Haven. He scored a goal against Shippensburg on September 26^th. Kiernan did not appear against Lackawanna College earlier this season. He recorded a shot against Bloomsburg last week.
 
Junior keeper Phil Sykes, a Clarks Summit native, leads the Warriors with nine appearances, eight starts, allowing ten goals and making 31 saves on the year. Sykes has three clean sheets this season. His most-recent came against West Chester on September 23^rd, where he had four saves in the victory over the Golden Rams. His season-high for saves came against Queens on September 5^th, where he had six saves in a loss. Sykes did not play against the Falcons earlier this season. He had two saves against Bloomsburg last week.
 
First-year keeper Gabin Meneyrol has made four starts, allowing seven goals on the season and making 13 saves this season. Meneyrol has a pair of clean sheets on the season, including a start against the Falcons, where he made a pair of saves in the victory. His season-high for saves came twice this year, posting five saves against Gannon (8/30) and Millersville (9/19), which was his last appearance.
 
Tom Mustac is the head coach for ESU, entering his fourth season in 2026. He is 31-17-16 in his time with the Warriors, and he's picked up at least eight wins in each of his first three seasons, while coaching 18 All-PSAC student-athletes in his time. Mustac is an ESU alum, graduating as a three-time All-PSAC forward with the Warriors and registering 41 goals in his three years of playing time, tied for sixth all-time in ESU history. He was also a member of the 2000 squad that went to the NCAA DII Final Four. Mustac served as an assistant with ESU from 2009 to 2014, and was most recently Keystone Athletics Director of Coaching before coming back to lead the program. 
 
Next 
Lackawanna College gets back on the road this coming Saturday, October 10^th, where the Falcons will take on Shippensburg University for the second time this season. Kickoff is set for 2:00pm ET at David See Field at Shippensburg. Lackawanna fell 3-0 to the Raiders back on September 23^rd in their first match-up.