The MATCH PREVIEW IS PRESENTED BY OUR PARTNER HEALTHFIRST
Cosmos Stoppage Time Goal Breaks WSC Home Streak: Heartbreak in Mt. Vernon on Friday night as Westchester Soccer Club welcomed the New York Cosmos for Prinx Tires USL Cup play under the Friday night lights in front of a strong home crowd. Westchester controlled much of the first half, holding most of the possession in a tightly contested match where clear chances were limited on both sides. WSC goalkeeper Luca Marinelli kept his team in it early, coming up with a couple of key saves to deny dangerous Cosmos opportunities. The Cosmos eventually broke through late in the first half. In the 43rd minute, Sebastián Guenzatti finished a pass from Philip Spengler and slid it past Marinelli to give New York a 1-0 lead at halftime. Westchester came out strong in the second half and quickly found the equalizer. Noah Powder delivered a great cross into the box, where Koen Blommestijn got on the end of it after a few bounces and headed it home to make it 1-1, scoring his first goal for Westchester Soccer Club in the process. After about 20 minutes of back-and-forth, physical, and at times chippy play, WSC found their moment through Ermin Mackic with a clutch finish that could be a goal-of-the-year contender. In the 70th minute, Jonathan Jimenez picked up the ball on the left side and quickly played it into Mackic near the top of the box. With a sharp first touch and a quick cut, Ermin created just enough space and curled a finish into the top right corner to put Westchester ahead and complete a big momentum swing. Unfortunately for George Gjokaj’s squad, that lead wouldn’t last. Just about 10 minutes later, Nicholas Mendonca made a strong run down the right side, beating a couple defenders before finishing to bring the match level again. But the drama wasn’t over yet. After the fourth official signaled five minutes of added time, it felt like something was bound to happen given how the game had gone—just no one knew what or who it would come from. Then, right before the final whistle that would have sent the match to penalties for a place in the USL Cup next round, Christian Koffi picked up a loose ball around midfield. He drove forward, beat multiple defenders, and finished past Marinelli to win it for his team, both in the moment and on the scoreboard.
The loss dropped WSC to 1-1 in Prinx Tires USL Cup play, with their next match coming up at Rhode Island.
WSC Signs Marinelli For Rest Of The Season: The club announced this week they have signed keeper Luca Marinelli to a contract for the remainder of the season after his 25 day contract expires. Marinelli, born in Rome and raised in Milford, Ct. starred at Sacred Heart University (where Hammersley also played) and was selected as the 2025 MAAC Golden Glove winner, awarded annually to the league’s best goalie. In his senior year he made 14 starts in net for the MAAC Regular Season champs, logging 1233:13 minutes in goal, while going 8-1-3 overall with five shutouts. He recorded 41 saves (.804 save percentage) allowing just 10 goals (0.73 goals against average). On the MAAC leaderboard, Marinelli ranked first in goals against average, first in shutouts per game, tied for first in total shutouts, second in save percentage, sixth in goalie minutes played, and eighth in total saves. He was the first member of Sacred Heart to capture the top goalkeeper award in the MAAC. Marinelli played two seasons at SHU after transferring from Bryant University, where appeared in 15 matches over two seasons. He also helped lead AC Connecticut to the 2025 USL Academy Championship as their starting keeper.
Thus far Marinelli has appeared in 2 USL League One matches with seven saves on nine attempts. He is 0-2 thus far, since WSC has been shutout in both his starting matches.
The Snowbird Derby Resumes: WSC and Naples went 1-1-1 last season against each other. On October 12, WSC ended their first home campaign with a 2-0 win over playoff bound FC Naples, the first clean sheet in WSC history. Naples went 1-0-1 in the two Florida meetings last season, including a hard-fought 2-2 draw on August 30.
Finding The Elusive Road Success: Westchester Soccer Club has had scores of memorable moments at home in the early 2026 season, but scores on the road in USL League One play have been hard to come by, even as their vastly improved defense keeps them in matches. WSC’s winless streak on the road is 13 consecutive games. Their last road win was at Forward Madison, 2-1, last June 10. Since then they have gone 0-10-3 on the road. The club enters Saturday with a three match scoreless streak on the road this season (four if you include their 0-0 regulation time game in US Open Cup play at Vermont, which WSC won in penalties), following clean sheets at Boise (4-0) and Richmond (1-0). They have now been outscored on the road 10-2 in the young season.
Close Shaves Still Cut Deep: The one goal loss to New York was WSC’s third straight, and dropped WSC to 0-4 in one goal decisions this season, and continued a pattern for WSC from their inaugural season, when they went 2-14-7 when they entered the second 45 either tied or behind and were 2-11 in one goal w/l decisions. They were 2-11 in one goal w/l decisions, and were blanked five times, three times time at home. WSC’s longest winless streak (excluding their 3-0 forfeit win over Spokane on July 16) was a 12 match streak which started after a 2-1 win at Forward Madison on June 18 and ended with a 2-1 win over Texoma on Sept. 21. That stretch included six one goal losses and three ties.
WSC Becomes a MAAC home: The addition of the two new keepers (Luca Marinelli- Sacred Heart and Giuliano Santucci-Iona) gives WSC seven players who called the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference home during their collegiate days, a pretty unique stat for a mid-major conference. That includes three players from Sacred Heart and two from Iona, as well as one from Siena and Marist.
McGlynn, Guezen Still Rising: WSC’s early season growth has been fueled by its young players, as both midfielders Conor McGlynn (Middle Village, NY) and Guezen (Amsterdam, Netherlands) continue to emerge as the leaders on the young WSC squad. Guezen 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. Both now have four goals in league games, which are tied for third on the scoring table in the early going, and Guezen is tied for third in shots with 18. McGlynn’s pair at home vs Corpus Christi was his first two goal game.
Youngest, Fastest and First: The early season has brought WSC some new milestones. Kyle Evans became the youngest goalscorer 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). 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. Rookie Alexi Armas also added to the youth movement, nailing the winning penalty over Portland in USL Cup play.
Additional League Leaders; Hammersley’s 20 saves are seventh in the league, while the team is 4th amongst overall scoring with 12 goals.
New Faces Making Contributions: Westchester Soccer Club has a decidedly young and local look in 2026 as Head Coach and General Manager George Gjokaj has at least 16 athletes with local roots on the roster. Kyle Evans (Rock Hill, NY/Marist), has started all eight matches thus far, while 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.
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 12 newcomers join 14 returnees on the WSC preseason 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: WSC has a Prinx Tires USL Cup match at Rhode Island on June 6.
