Saint Joseph’s men’s soccer program introduces 10-player recruiting class

PHILADELPHIA – Saint Joseph’s men’s soccer head coach Don D’Ambra has announced the addition of 10 newcomers with the 2022 season on the horizon.

Joining the squad on Hawk Hill are a trio of incoming freshman from the surrounding area in Marcus Goodley (Forestville, Md./Bishop McNamara), Ari Rosu (West Orange, N.J./West Orange) and Luke Johnson (Harrisburg, Pa./Central Dauphin). Tomas Martini (Rockville, Md./Walter Johnson) caps off the incoming domestic players after applying his trade early in his collegiate career at American.

Six of the incoming recruits join internationally, including four freshman and a pair of transfers. Ariel Hadar (Ra’anana, Israel) joins the squad after transferring from UCF while Fletcher Caponecchia (Myrtleford, Australia) joins from West Virginia Tech. Incoming freshmen include Jesper Sandberg (Uppsala, Sweden), Vegard Bratrok (Lillehammer, Norway), Philipp Wujewitsch (Kempten, Germany) and Erik Hargedahl (Eskilstuna, Sweden).

For a complete player-by-player rundown, please see below.

Marcus Goodley

Position: Goalkeeper
Height/Weight: 5′ 11″
Hometown: Forestville, Md.
High School: Bishop McNamara
Club: Future Monarchs SC

• Dallas Cup 2021 Champion
• Four year starter at Bishop McNamara
• Team Captain
• All-Conference selection in Washington Catholic Athletic Conference (WCAC)

Coach D’Ambra on Goodley: “Marcus will be a great addition to our program. He is very athletic and is an excellent shot stopper and he has a lot of potential. I love the fact that he has a great attitude and work ethic and I feel he will develop a lot at SJU.”

Ari Rosu

Position: Midfielder/Defender
Height/Weight: 6′ 1″/185 lbs.
Hometown: West Orange, N.J.
High School: West Orange
Club: FC Motown

• Four-year starter
• As a senior, named New Jersey Player of the Year, Essex County Player of the Year and an All-American
• Three-time All-Conference, All-County and All-Group selection
• Two-time All-State honoree
• Tallied 24 career goals and 32 assists

Coach D’Ambra on Rosu: “Ari is going to bring excellent depth to our backline, he can play central or outside back. With his versatility and work ethic, he will come in and compete immediately. I think his best qualities are his defending, competitiveness, athleticism and physicality in winning duals. I am excited to see how Ari develops at SJU.”

Tomas Martini

Position: Midfielder
Height/Weight: 5′ 6″/145 lbs
Hometown: Rockville, Md.
High School: Walter Johnson
Former School: American
Club: Bethesda SC Academy

• Saw action in four games as a sophomore
• Played in two games as a freshman
• 2021 Patriot League Academic Honor Roll
• Honor Roll member
• Five-year starter for Bethesda SC Academy
• Invited to multiple US Youth National Team Identification Centers from 2015-2018

Coach D’Ambra on Martini: “Tomas brings us good depth in the offense positions. He has excellent technical ability and can provide creativity in the attack.

Fletcher Caponecchia

Position: Midfielder
Height/Weight: 5′ 11″/178 lbs.
Hometown: Myrtleford, Australia
High School: Myrtleford
Former School: West Virginia Tech

• Competed in 18 games as a freshman and finished with two goals and three assists
• Served as team captain as a sophomore and appeared in 15 matches
• Scored seven goals and added three assists
• Named RSC All-Conference

Coach D’Ambra on Caponecchia: “Fletcher will be a great addition to our midfield, he has so many good qualities to his game and is versatile and willing to play whatever role is asked of him. He has a great balance of skill, IQ, physicality and ability to score goals. Fletcher seems to have a blue-collar work ethic which I like and feel will translate well to our program.”

Luke Johnson

Position: Midfielder
Height/Weight: 6′ 0″/175 lbs.
Hometown: Harrisburg, Pa.
High School: Central Dauphin

• All-American and All-Region selection as a senior
• Two-time All-State honoree
• Twice named Mid Penn MVP
• Commonwealth MVP as a senior
• Led Central Dauphin to three district and Commonwealth titles
• Recorded 33 goals and 56 assists over four season
• Two-time State Cup champion
• Six-time ODP member

Coach D’Ambra on Johnson: “Luke is a creative attacking player who can contribute in many ways. He has a lot of good qualities such as passing, good soccer IQ, good awareness, and making plays in attacking third. Luke has a lot of good leadership qualities and communicates extremely well. I think it may take a little time to adjust to our level but I am excited to see how Luke develops within our program.”

Ariel Hadar

Position: Midfielder
Height/Weight: 5′ 8″/154 lbs.
Hometown: Ra’anana, Israel
High School: Aviv
Former School: UCF

• Played in 11 matches with three starts as a sophomore
• Totaled four goals and 13 shots in 2021
• Competed in eight matches as a rookie, tallying one goal and five shots
• Named to the American Athletic Conference Honor Roll once
• Member of the U21 Israeli international team
• Played for multiple teams in the Leumit league
• Participated in 75 matches overseas, tallying 11 goals and two assists

Coach D’Ambra on Hadar: “We are very excited to be adding Ariel to our program and I believe he will make an immediate impact for us offensively. Ariel has a ton of experience, played at a very high level back in Israel and comes from a strong UCF program. Ariel is very efficient and composed in the final third and will help us create goals and is able to contribute in many ways. I Also feel that Ariel has a lot of good leadership qualities and will be a positive voice within the team.”

Jesper Sandberg

Position: Midfielder/Forward
Height/Weight: 6‘ 0″/165 lbs.
Hometown: Uppsala, Sweden
High School: Celsiusskolan
Club: Sirius

• Played for Sirius U19
• Won gold at the Gothia Puma Trophy Cup B Final
• His uncle, Mikael Martinsson played for IFK Gotebrog in the Champions League and played for the Swedish National Team

Coach D’Ambra on Sandberg: “Jesper is an exciting player for us, he has great speed, stamina, skill and versatility. He is able to play many wide positions which is important to us. He is playing at a good level in Sweden and I have no doubt he will come in and compete to play right away.”

Vegard Bratrok

Position: Midfielder
Height/Weight: 5′ 10″/157 lbs.
Hometown: Lillehammer, Norway
High School: NTG Kongsvinger
Club: Kongsvinger IL

• Competed for Follebu, Faaberg and Lillehammer
• Played for Kongsvinger the past three years, commpeting with the first team in the OBOS-ligaen
• Member of Kongsvinger U19 squad that won the Interkrets A league title in 2021

Coach D’Ambra on Bratrok: “Vegard is a very versatile and intelligent player. He is capable of playing multiple roles in the midfield but also in the backline. His biggest strength would be his consistency both defensively and offensively. He has very good game awareness and technical ability on the ball and I feel he will bring us excellent depth on the field and compete to play immediately.”

Philipp Wujewitsch

Position: Midfielder
Height/Weight: 5′ 10″/163 lbs.
Hometown: Kempten, Germany
Club: RV Ravensburg

• Played in the German Fourth (Regionalliga) and Fifth Division (Oberliga) with RV Ravensburg
• Competed for the U15 German National Team

Coach D’Ambra on Wujewitsch: “Philipp is a very experienced player who can play multiple positions for us. I feel that Philipp has excellent defensive qualities and can be very impactful both defensively and offensively. His talents, maturity and experience will make an immediate impact on our program and I am excited to see how his game translates to our level.”

Erik Hargedahl

Position: Defender
Height/Weight: 6′ 6″/200 lbs.
Hometown: Eskilstuna, Sweden
High School: Rinmangymnasiet/Archie Williams High School
Club: Eskilstuna City

• Played for Eskilstuna City in the second division of the Swedish league
• Helped Rinmangymnasiet to the 2016 Gothia Cup Finals (1/4 and 1/8)
• At Archie Williams High School, earned First Team All-Marin County Athletic League and team MVP honors as a junior.

Coach D’Ambra on Hargedahl: “Erik is a very experienced center back who is currently playing at a very good level and understands the position very well. He is a complete back and defends well, has good game awareness and offensively is very composed on the ball. Erik has a lot of good leadership qualities as well and he spent some time in the USA. I am confident that he will adjust quickly and make an immediate impact within our team.”