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Four Straight: Westchester Soccer Club kicked off their stretch run much like they ended September, as Daniel Burko and Conor McGlynn’s scored first half goals (McGlynn’s 15th of the season on a penalty in the 32nd minute) to give the club a 2-0 lead they did not relinquish on their way to a 2-1 win over AV Alta last Saturday.
The lone blight on the night came when Osvaldo Lay beat Luca Marinelli six minutes into stoppage play to spoil his clean sheet.
Historic Streak Continues: The win gave WSC their first-ever four match unbeaten streak (they have had streaks of three on four occasions in their two year history) and enter Saturday with 3 wins and a draw in the last four. It also moved them to 8-4-2 at home (a marked improvement from 3-8-4 in Mt. Vernon in their inaugural season) and was also their second straight one goal win after going 1-10 in their first 11 one goal decisions. They have scored three or more goals in 6 of their 14 home matches. Three times they have also scored three or more goals in a half (most in club history), with the first time being in the initial 45 of their 5-1 vs. Corpus Christi on April 5 before netting three in the first half of a 3-2 win over FC Naples and a record fast five vs. Richmond on Sept. 16.
McGlynn In The Record Books: Conor McGlynn now has 15 goals on the season, putting him back atop the League’s Golden Boot race, and breaking the league mark for goals for a midfielder, which he had shared with Rafael Mentzingen, who had 13 for North Carolina FC in the 2023 season. He is also now two short of the club mark for goals in a season, set last year by J.C. Obregon with 17. McGlynn’s total of 19 in just under two seasons also makes him WSC’s all-time leading scorer in their two year history.
September 16 vs. Richmond was his third brace of the season, and second in the same half. His pair at home vs Corpus Christi was his first two goal game, with his second brace coming June 19 vs. Portland. He is also one of two WSC players to start every league game this season (Kyle Evans is the other).
Weekly Honors: Westchester Soccer Club’s late season run has seen a cast of players contribute and mature under the leadership of George Gjokaj. So it should come as no surprise that yet another pair of names were selected this week as part of the USL League One Team of the week. Defender Jack Loura won nine duels and five tackles as WSC extended their unbeaten string and defeated AV ALTA FC, 2-1 on Saturday. He was joined in this week’s selection by fellow defender Daniel Burko, who set the tone in Westchester’s victory with a 20th-minute goal, then won nine duels and five tackles, while also making three clearances.
Additionally, Kyle Evans recorded his sixth assist of the season against AV ALTA FC. He is now tied for the second-most assists in a season by a player aged 20 or younger in League One history, trailing only current Sacramento Republic FC attacking midfielder Arturo Rodriguez, who notched 10 assists for North Texas SC in 2019.
Rising Against The Bottom, Struggling Against The Top: WSC enters Saturday with an 0-9-4 mark against teams holding a current playoff spot and are 9-5-2 against teams not in a playoff position.
Braces Fit: McGlynn, Jonathan Jiménez and forward Koen Blommestijn have now had two goals in a half in the past five matches. Jiménez first half scores were just three minutes apart vs. Richmond while Blommestijn had two goals nine minutes apart (at 68’ and 77’) Sept. 12 at Charlotte, his first two tallies of the season.
Series History: Forward Madison FC leads the all-time head-to-side series against Westchester SC with 2 wins, 1 draw, and 1 loss across 4 total USL League One matches. They won 2-0 at Madison on August 1, and 1-0 in the only meeting in Mt. Vernon last season.
Guezen Leading The Way: WSC’s growth has been fueled by its young players, as both midfielders Conor McGlynn (Middle Village, NY) and Dean Guezen (Amsterdam, Netherlands) continue to emerge as the leaders on the young WSC squad. Guezen is second on the team in scoring with seven goals, and was voted Player of the Week presented by Konami eFootball after recording a pair of goals in his side’s victory against Sarasota Paradise on April 8. The Dutch midfielder recorded his first two-goal game for the club against Sarasota, striking twice in the second half to lead his side to a 2-0 win. Guezen’s goal vs Charlotte earlier in the season just 45 seconds into the match was the fastest in club history. He added a career high three assists, all in the first half, in the record-setting win vs. Richmond as well, the ninth time in USL League One history a player had a trio of assists in a game.
Evans Excelling: Kyle Evans continues to impress, and was named to the USL League One Team of the Week presented by SiteOne for the second consecutive week on July 28 as well as being named to the USL bench on August 18. One of only two players to start every match for WSC this season, the 20-year-old assisted on both of Westchester’s goals in its impressive showing on the road at Omaha, as Evans also won a tackle and had seven clearances. He followed it up with a goal and an assist in Westchester’s win against the Cosmos, then had two interceptions and an 85.7 passing percentage against AV ALTA FC. Evans is the first player to record a goal and assist in the same game for the club this season, and only the fourth overall following Conor McGlynn, Juan Carlos Obregón Jr. and Noah Powder. Earlier this year, Evans became the youngest goal scorer in club history with his stoppage-time finish against One Knoxville in the opener, notching his first professional goal aged 20 years, 146 days old, surpassing the mark of Ermin Mackic (20 years, 174 days). His six assists lead the club as well.
Marinelli The Stopper: Keeper Luca Marinelli continues to impress as he has ascended to the starting spot after replacing injured starter Andrew Hamersley. He has four clean sheets and has allowed 27 goals with 65 saves in his 22 starts in league play. In 15 of his 22 league starts WSC has scored one or fewer goals, including 5 1-0 losses and two scoreless draws. The draw at AV Alta combined with a 3-0 home win over NY Cosmos on July 22 marked the first time a keeper had posted back to back clean sheets in club history. He was named to USL League One Team of the Week on July 28 for the first time for his work.
Tim Time: Tim Temchenko, the 23-year-old defender from Russia and Iona University added to his onfield growth with his first career goal at Corpus Christi Aug. 22 and his second to open scoring vs. Richmond Sept. 16. He was named to USL League One Team of the Week on August 19 after he had an assist, eight clearances and a passing accuracy rate of 90% in Westchester’s 3-2 win over FC Naples. His three assists are third on the club.
Jiménez Accolades: Westchester SC forward Jonathan Jiménez continues his series of strong performances, and was voted to the USL Bench for August 19 and Sept. 22. He was Player of the Week presented by Konami eFootball after scoring two goals in Westchester’s 5-1 win against Portland Hearts of Pine on June 19. Jiménez was at the center of it, tallying six shots – the most of any Westchester player in a single game this season – and found the back of the net twice. The Mexican national’s accolades followed his first USL League One Team of the Week selection the previous week. Jimenez helped Westchester earn four points from two outings as he completed 34 of 41 passes and notched five chances created while winning 10 of 16 duels and 3 of 4 tackles in a draw against Fort Wayne FC and victory against Greenville Triumph SC.
Road Draws, Shutouts Other Notes: The draw at AV Alta combined with a 3-0 home win over NY Cosmos on July 22 marked the first time the club had posted back to back clean sheets in their history.
WSC’s streaky season has seen them go through droughts of one goal in their three matches (including being been shutout in two straight) from June 24-July 5, after going 2-0-1 and scoring ten goals in a three match stretch in just nine days June. They have been shutout in two or more consecutive games four times this season.
The nine goals in two games at Charlotte on Sept. 12 and at home vs. Richmond Sept. 16 are the most in back-to-back USL League One play (4 vs. Charlotte, 5 vs. Richmond) and the 9 in the 5-4 loss at Charlotte combined are tied for the second-most in a League One contest, trailing only a 5-5 draw between South Georgia Tormenta FC and Greenville Triumph SC on July 13, 2022. It was the third nine-goal game in League One.
The five goals from kickoff on Sept. 16 vs. Richmond in Mt. Vernon matched the USL League One mark for goals in a half (originally set by Greenville in the first half against South Georgia Tormenta FC on 7/13/22), were the fastest five from kickoff in USL League One history at 25 minutes, and the second-fastest five in USL history, behind Reno 1868 FC who scored five goals in 20 minutes in the USL Championship between the 28th and 48th minutes in the USL Championship against Tacoma Defiance on May 20, 2017. By comparison, the fastest five goals in MLS history were The Seattle Sounders, who scored 5 goals against the San Jose Earthquakes on September 10, 2020. The fastest five goals from kickoff in Premier League history were Manchester City who set the mark against Watford in 18 minutes in 2019.
The scoreless draw at Knoxville on Sept. 27 was just the second-ever scoreless tie for WSC (the other was at AV Alta on July 25). The draw moved WSC to 1-3-4 in their last eight road matches.
WSC Metro and Big East Friendly: The addition of former UCONN captain Jack Loura now gives WSC seven BIG EAST alums and seven Metro (formerly Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference) alums on the roster. That includes three players from Sacred Heart and two from Iona, as well as one from Siena and Marist.
Youngest, Fastest and First: The season has brought WSC some new milestones. The club brought up 18 year old WSC Academy prospect Marko Vislocky, a product of Tottenville HS on Staten Island in September. Vislocky was selected to represent the Slovakia U18 National Team, joining them for international duty. He is the second-youngest player to debut for WSC, following Sam Greenburg, who was 17 years, 5 months, and 7 days old when he made his professional debut for Westchester SC on July 2, 2025. Andrew Hammersley also notched his first career clean sheet against NY Renegades in US Open Cup play and followed that up with his first in League play against Sarasota on April 8 and Matias Molina had his first career clean sheet at Vermont in Round Two. Hammersley’s 11 saves in a loss at Greenville on March 29 were the most in club history and one shy of the League record for saves in a game. Rookie Alexi Armas also added to the youth movement, nailing the winning penalty over Portland in USL Cup play.
The Jonathan Jiménez brace two minutes apart Sept. 16 vs. Richmond also tied the USL League One mark for fastest pair.
More Local Flavor: Westchester Soccer Club has a decidedly young and local look in 2026 as Head Coach and General Manager George Gjokaj has at least 18 athletes with local roots on the roster. Kyle Evans (Rock Hill, NY/Marist), Maximus Jennings (Montclair, NJ/Georgetown), Tim Timchenko (Kyiv, Ukraine/Iona), Daniel Burko (Løvenstad, Norway/Hofstra) , Charlie Dickerson (Norwich, England/Providence) and Aleksei Armas (Floral Park, NY/Hofstra and Adelphi) have had substantial playing time across the board. Colin Veltri joined in mid June WSC after a standout collegiate career at Elon and St. John’s and in mid August the club added Queens native Piero Elias to the roster via a 25 day contract.
The others: Goalkeepers: Marinelli, Santucci, and Mattias Molina (Rosario, Argentina/Seton Hall), Mo Williams (West Orange, NJ/Notre Dame/Seton Hall), Midfielders: Aiden Borra (Syosset, NY/Sacred Heart and St. John’s), and Miguel Diaz (Brooklyn, NY/St. John’s).
The 16 newcomers join 14 returnees on the WSC roster. Amongst the returning players, Goalkeeper Hammersley (Garden City, NY/Sacred Heart), Defender Noah Powder (Edison, NJ), Midfielder McGlynn (Middle Village, NY/Siena College), and Forwards Mackic (Yonkers NY/SUNY Purchase), and Samory Powder (Edison, NJ) also have ties to the New York area.
Partners for ’26: WSC’s list of partners for the season include: Northwell (Healthcare), Healthfirst (Health Insurance), Leros Transportation Group (Transportation), Meagher & Meagher, Attorneys at Law (Personal Injury Law), Breezemont Day Camp (Summer Camp), RXR (Real Estate Development), MSG Networks (Media & Broadcasting), The Taco Project (Restaurant & Food), Duck Donuts (Restaurant & Food), Score PT (Physical Therapy), Walter’s (Restaurant & Food), Keller Williams (Real Estate), ICE AIR (HVAC), Westchester Smoothie (Restaurant & Food), Saw Mill Stone & Masonry Supply (Masonry/Retail), Floor & Décor Flooring & Home Improvement (Home Improvement/Retail), The Gentleman’s Lab (Men’s Grooming / Barbershop), Agora (Social Group), CPR Foundation (Non-Profit/Foundation), Velvet Llama (Liquor), Rory Dolan’s Restaurant & Bar (Restaurant & Food), and Strategic Security Corp (Security Services).
Up Next: After this match, WSC host Union Omaha on Oct. 17. They end the campaign at Sarasota on Oct. 24
