2009-2010 Season Preview

The Elmira College Men’s Basketball team enters the
2009-10 season under second-year
Head
Coach
Randie Torgalski. The Soaring Eagles will look to
benefit from the valuable experience gained in the 2008-09 season
as 10 players played over 10 minutes per game, nine of which return
to the squad this season.
The Members of the 2010 class will be relied upon to provide not
only quality minutes, but leadership as well.
Forward
Jon Adamson ’10 (Little Falls, NY --
Herkimer) will be a force down low for the Soaring Eagles
in ’09-10.
Adamson started 23 games in the ’08-09
season totaling eight double-digit rebounding performances. The
6’4” forward used his frame to help pull in
a team-high 7.5 rebounds a game which was the fifth best average in
the Empire 8.
Adamson also scored 15 points per game and was
fifth in the league with a 53.5 field goal percentage while his
78.6 percent shooting from the foul line was also the Empire
8’s fifth best percentage all leading to an Empire 8
Honorable Mention selection.
.

Local product
Bryan Mathews ’10 (Horseheads, NY --
Horseheads) will act as the main distributor of the ball
this year for the Soaring Eagles.
Mathews led the team with 3.36 assists per game in
25 games played while averaging the third most minutes played a
game at 27.8. The 5’10” guard also showed
he was not afraid to fight in the paint by pulling in 3.3 rebounds
a game, the second best average on the team.
Fellow guard
Noah Zazulia ’10 (Palm City, FL -- Jensen
Beach) will be relied upon for consistent offensive
production in the ’09-10 season.
Zazulia played 22.8 minutes a game in 22 games
making 10 starts, and improved in virtually every statistical
category in the ’08-09 season.
Zazulia finished the year averaging 6.6 points per
game, 3.2 rebounds per game and 1.4 assists a night.
Palen Andreozzi ’10 (Albany, NY -- Christian
Brothers Academy) will also be an offensive threat for the
Purple and Gold this season.
Andreozzi appeared in 20 games last season
including nine starts.
Andreozzi was fourth on the team in scoring;
finishing with an average of 6.3 points a night. Averaging 20.2
minutes, he also tied for the team lead with 13 blocks.
Chris Henderson ’10 (West Bridgewater, MA --
Coyle Cassidy) and
Nick Woitach ’10 (Vestal, NY -- Vestal
Senior) came off the bench to provide the Soaring Eagles
with quality minutes of play during the ’08-09 season.
Both will add valuable experience and competitiveness to the
Soaring Eagles roster this season.
Henderson, Elmira College’s
representative on the E8’s Sportsman of the Year
selections last season, made 12 starts in 22 games.
Woitach scored 29 points in 17 games and was
second on the team with 1.8 assists per game in ’08-09.
David Nelson ’10 (Bainbridge, NY --
Bainbridge-Guilford) will look to rebound from an injury
plagued season in ’08-09.
Nelson, however, did manage to play in 15 games
scoring 6.1 points a contest to go with 1.8 rebounds a game last
season.
Nelson has the ability to light up the gym as he
demonstrated last season by leading EC in three-point percentage by
shooting 34.5 percent (19-for-55) from distance and poured in a
season-high 18 points against Keuka College in the second game of
the year.
A key addition to the Soaring Eagles line-up will be
Chris McGowan ’10 (Maypearl, TX --
Maypearl). The 6’1’’
transfer guard comes to Elmira College from Corning Community
College where he was a standout player.
McGowan will provide the Purple and Gold with an
offensive spark and a tenacious defensive effort as he plays with
great energy and quickness.
Bobby DiPiazza ’11 (Wyckoff, NJ -- Bergen
Catholic) served as the driving force behind Elmira
College’s offense during the ’08-09 season,
and will look to continue his offensive attack this season.
DiPiazza, who set career-highs in minutes played,
field goal percentage, three-point percentage, points per game and
steals, led the Soaring Eagles and was fifth in the Empire 8 with
17.2 points per game last season. The Bergen Catholic alum was the
top scorer for the Purple and Gold 14 times this season even
dropping 20 more points nine times with his best game coming at
Nazareth College on Feb. 24.
DiPiazza scored 32 points in the losing effort.
Expect strong play and big numbers from
DiPiazza throughout the ’09-10 season.
Elmira College’s biggest body is
6’7” 235 pound forward
Zach Simpson ’11 (Savona, NY --
Campbell-Savona).
Simpson will patrol the paint this season and will
look to be a force on the defensive end.
Simpson appeared in 25 contests including 11
starts shooting 49.3 percent from the field averaging 3.7 points
and 2.8 rebounds per game last season.
TJ Woitach ’11 (Vestal, NY -- Vestal
Senior) and
Ryan Patterson ’11 (Brattleboro, VT --
Brattleboro Union) will both look to improve their
contributions in the ’09-10 season as they gained
valuable experience appearing in 20 and 18 games respectively in
’08-09
In his second year with the Soaring Eagles
Caleb Pruch ’12 (Bolivar, NY --
Bolivar-Richburg) will look to make a name for himself as
a main contributor to the EC offense in ’09-10. Last
season,
Pruch saw action in 19 and 15 games.
The Soaring Eagles welcome three first year players to the roster
this season,
Matt Willard ’13 (Coventry, RI --
Coventry),
Brandon DiPaola ’13 (Coventry, RI --
Coventry), and
Bobby Thomas ’13 (Wantagh, NY –
MacArthur). The three newcomers are extremely talented
players that will see valuable minutes throughout the year for the
Purple and Gold.
With Coach Torgalski returning virtually every member of last
season’s squad the expectations for the Elmira
College’s Men’s Basketball team are very
high in ’09-10.