UConn Men’s Soccer Adds 11 New Players

On the heels of the start of preseason work Wednesday, UConn Men’s Soccer has formally announced its incoming freshman and transfer class.

The class represents four states (Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Jersey and Vermont) as well as Canada and France. UConn will now have three Canadian players and two hailing from France.

The Huskies will welcome eight freshmen and three transfers, all of which are immediately eligible.

Transfers

Forward David Abunaw comes to the Huskies via the University of Hartford and more recently, Bryant University. He did not see the field in two seasons with Hartford before heading to Bryant. He played in 28 of 32 games for the Bulldogs, notching a goal and two assists. The West Hartford native will return to his home state as a graduate transfer.

Austin Avisa played for Syracuse for two seasons as a goalkeeper and will have two years of eligibility in Storrs. He played nine matches his freshman season and had a goals against average of 0.97. Avisa is originally from Medway, Massachusetts.

Dayonn Harris, originally from Milton, Ontario, will attend UConn after playing two seasons at Penn State. He started all 18 contests for the Nittany Lions in 2016, notching three goals and two assists as a forward. He will have two years of eligibility remaining.

Freshmen

Austin DaSilva is one of four freshmen who elected to stay in-state and attend UConn. Originally from Brookfield, he was an all-state player in basketball and soccer, helping the Brookfield High basketball team to the 2017 Class M State Championship. He will play forward for the Huskies.

Midfielder Cole Venner is from Burlington, Vermont and played for the Berkshire School for three seasons. While playing at the independent school in southwestern Massachusetts, he scored 34 goals and had 24 assists.

Jarod Reidl is also going to be a midfielder for the Huskies and is an in-state product, from New Milford, where he was a four-year varsity player at New Milford High.

Nicolas Apostol, of Coquitlam, British Columbia, is a defender with national team experience. He has played on the Canadian U-18 National Team and was a product of the Vancouver Whitecaps academy, starting all 27 matches for the Whitecaps Residency U-16 team in 2015-16.

Nick DeMaso walked onto the squad this spring and will play defense for the Huskies. He is from Fairfield, Connecticut, where he attended Fairfield Ludlowe High School, earning three letters and all-conference honors in his junior and senior seasons. He was also an All-State and all-New England selection during his senior campaign.

Fellow in-state newcomer, Aaron Dang, will play forward and is originally from Bloomfield.

Josh Burnett will give depth in the midfield and ensure UConn has continued representation from New Jersey after Jake Nerwinski was drafted in the first round of the MLS SuperDraft in January. Burnett is from Glen Ridge.

Midfielder Blaise N’Gague is from Lyon, France and will bring international experience along with him having played for the Chad National Team.

UConn will play its first game in Piscataway, New Jersey on Sunday against Rutgers in an exhibition. The regular season begins on Aug. 25 when the Huskies take on Iona at Morrone Stadium.