The Hunter Hawks Soccer team finished second place in the CUNYAC league, with one of their best finishes in 14 years despite a challenging season.
The Hawks’ end-of-season record of six wins, six losses, and one draw seems uneventful at first glance, but excitement followed Hunter throughout the fall.
In the annual CUNY pre-season poll, the league’s head coaches predicted Hunter’s soccer team to place third this season, which would match their finish from last year.
As the season started, however, the Hawks looked as if they couldn’t find their footing. In their opening five games, Hunter recorded zero wins and five losses, scoring just two goals while conceding 20.
Co-captains Bradley Espejo and Matthew Heimowitz along with defender Alejandro Sanchez all faulted a lack of chemistry for a rather abysmal start. With 13 former players leaving and 15 rookies joining the lineup in the offseason, Espejo said the team “needed to build some traction.”
A turning point finally came when Hunter faced William Paterson University in their sixth game on Sept. 20. The New Jersey team made a solid 4-3 start to the season before facing the Hawks, even beating Hunter’s cross-city rivals Baruch College.
At the start of the game, Hunter looked like a completely new team. Two first-half goals from Saleel Eldin and Espejo shocked the opposing team. Goalkeeper Heimowitz faced nine shots in the second half but held strong, helping the Hawks achieve their first victory of the season.
The Hawks would continue into the season with renewed confidence, but they immediately faced another tough challenge in their first game against John Jay College on Sept. 27.
Alpha Barry, a second-team all-star last year for the Hawks, was given a red card in the 25th minute after stopping a John Jay attack with a handball. By the half-time mark of the game, Hunter trailed two goals to zero.
Although a man down, the Hawks dominated the second half, winning every fifty-fifty ball. The miraculous comeback climaxed when winger Musa Feseru scored his first collegiate goal in the final moments, tying the game.
“I think it is definitely top three [moments in the season],” Feseru said.
“Seeing that everyone was as hyped as I was that I scored my first goal, made it even more special.”
The resilience shown in the John Jay game inspired consecutive victories for the Hawks against CUNY’s Brooklyn College and York College.
This run came to a head against rivals Baruch on Oct. 11. The Baruch Bearcats finished first in the CUNY conference last year and almost reached the NCAA tournament, only falling short to consistent top-performers Lehmann College in the playoff final.
“For us, it’s Real Madrid against Barcelona,” Sanchez said, referencing Baruch’s close rivalry with Hunter.
The result on the field appeared one-sided in favor of the Hawks. Hunter started quickly, with Espejo, Eldin, and freshman midfielder Khristopher Lage scoring in the first half to take a 3-0 lead. The final scoreline of 5-1 dealt Baruch its largest defeat in the rivalry’s history.
“It was amazing,” Sanchez said. “You don’t expect to beat a team like that five (to) one.”
Espejo said the victory showed the Hunter players that they could beat any CUNY team.
The Hawks’ spirits were sky-high, with the real test yet to come.
Lehman College won the CUNY playoffs last year and made an NCAA appearance, something the Hawks last achieved in 2013. The two undefeated teams went head-to-head for the top spot in the penultimate game.
An early injury to Heimowitz left Hunter without one of their leaders, and although they fought hard, Lehman won convincingly with a scoreline of two goals to zero.
But even after the loss, the Hunter squad remained undeterred.
Many of the players credited their belief to their coaches’ tactics. Head coach Daniel Cinelli, along with team assistants Robin Patton and Conrado Torres, took over the program last year and immediately impacted the Hawks’ performances.
“We’re not an average college team that has really big dudes,” Sanchez said. “The coaches want us to play possession-style soccer, constantly switching the ball. That has definitely gone right.”
Due to the Hawks’ impressive turnaround, they finished second in the conference. Surpassing their finish from last year and achieving a new height for this group of players.
In the weeks that followed, Heimowitz unfortunately could not regain 100% fitness to compete. Left without a goalkeeper for the upcoming match, Feseru volunteered to step in for Heimowitz.
The atmosphere was tense again around the rival match. Having done it once already this season, the Hunter Hawks believed they could beat Baruch, but the injury to Heimowitz still left them vulnerable.
Hunter started strongly, with Sanchez scoring quickly to give Hunter a one-to-zero lead, but a goal from a Baruch free-kick ten minutes later shifted the momentum.
The match became more thrilling from that point on, with both teams having good chances on goal, but a second Baruch free-kick goal two minutes after the half positioned Hunter on the verge of defeat.
Refusing to give up, Hunter put pressure on Baruch again, with Espejo and Sanchez coming close to scoring. The culmination of the Hawk’s pressure saw Eldin with a great chance in behind the Baruch defense.
One-on-one with Baruch’s goalkeeper and in acres of space, Eldin miss-hit the ball, kicking it well over the net.
Hunter would lose the game three goals to two, with all three Baruch goals coming from free kicks.
The mood among the Hunter squad was somber, as Espejo and Sanchez felt the injury to Heimowitz changed the course of Hunter’s season.
“We could’ve definitely beaten Baruch, all props to Musa for stepping up when we needed him, but their goals would have all been simple for Matt to handle,” Sanchez said.
Baruch would win the playoff final two to zero against Brooklyn College.
Due to their efforts during the season, Heimowitz, Espejo, Lage, and defender Conor Sullivan were all named to the CUNY all-star team. All four made their first appearance on the list of the best players in the league.
With the season now over, the Hawks are looking to build on their progress.
“We are planning on playing with the team as much as we are allowed, (and) meeting the new recruits,” said Heimowitz.
“We have a lot of returners with a lot to prove going into next season.”
The Envoy 
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