Six Former Lower Merion Players Join Nor’easters

OCEAN CITY – Lower Merion Soccer are a very successful club team from Bryn Mawr, PA. The Lower Merion Velez ’91 team was a dominant force in youth soccer from U11 – U19 the team never failed to reach the State Cup semi finals, winning it on three occassinos and finished on a high as USL Super 20 Division Winners and National semifinalists.
The Nor’easters have selected the best players from this all conquering side. These players are Brown Universities forward Voltaire Escalona, Mount St. Mary’s midfielder Zoncher Dennis, forward Emmanual Kollie from Otero CC, defender Patrick O’Neil from Princeton and Jonathan Dolezal from University of Pennsylvania and Max Tassano a dominant forward for the strong Carnegie Mellon University program.
All of these players are young but come with many accolades, Escalona was named a First Team All-State selection as a four-year varsity starter at Germantown Academy.
“I (Coach Oswald) think he is a valuable addition to the squad as he is coming off a big IVY league Championship at Brown.”
Tassano was Named All-UAA Honorable Mention at Carnegie Mellon. Max’s versatility was a big draw for Coach Oswald.
“Max is a big strong central defender who plays in a quality DIII program in Carnegie Mellon. Although he played up top for them at times over the past two years, we will move him back to a more natural position. He has great feet for a big game and offers so many intangibles on the field. He can win flighted balls, is a gritty 1v1 defender, and will surely be a valuable asset to the club.”
Dennis saw a lot of field time at Mount St. Mary’s and picked up the NEC Rookie of the Year and College News Freshman All-American.
“Zoncher is a special player. He is electric on the field and really gives us an element of danger in the final third. With 11 goals as a FROSH for Mt St Mary’s, we anticipate him doing the same thing for us… to produce and be productive in front of the goal while creating space and opportunities for others with the attention he will draw.”
Dolezal was recently named Pennsylvania’s “State Top Player” at defender in High School. Philadelphia Inquirer All-South East Pennsylvania selection.
“I have watched Johnny play over the years at the youth level and have always been impressed with his work rate and effort on the field. When I watched him this past year against Georgetown, I found myself recognizing just how good he was in all facets of the game…on the ball, off the ball, and in situations when he had to make the right choice in technical and tactical situations. I feel John has an extraordinary opportunity to play at the next level and we are overjoyed that he opted to sign with us.”
Princeton’s O’Neil was named to the Academic All-Ivy team as well as being twice named Ivy League Rookie of the Week as Princeton won the Ivy League title.
“Patrick has done a great job on the field in the short time he has had at Princeton. He consistently does his job and consistently does his job well. He is an excellent distributor of the ball and reads the game quite well. I feel his experience in the IVY league, as well as his versatility, will transfer well on the pitch for us this summer.”
Kollie was a High School star being named First Team All-State and First Team All-Catholic while at Father Judge High School. He has now moved his talents onto Otero Junior College In his Freshman college year he blew away the competition with eight goals and eight assists in the 18 games he played. Kollie was also a JUCO All-Region (Region IX) selection and he helped the team finish in the national top 10 in is Rookie Season, Otero also finished 20th in country through NSCAA in 2011.
“He is a fun player to watch when the ball is at his feet and can be a bit of a handful in open space and in situations when he can go out other guys 1v1. We expect him to make things happen in the front third of the field.”
The excitement is building by the shore as these players prepare for the 2012 USL PDL season.
Future player announcements are on the way, visit www.OceanCityFC.com, LIKE us on www.facebook.com/oceancityfc or FOLLOW us on www.twitter.com/oceancityfc for all the latest news.