Moon Township, Pa. – The Robert Morris University men's soccer team officially released their roster for the 2023 season, announced today by head coach Jonathan Potter.
 
Potter and his staff featuring assistants Abraham Lopez-Mendoza and Austin Gorman, enter their first season leading the Colonials. After training the team over the spring semester of 2023, Potter added four transfers and 11 freshmen, totaling 15 new players to the team.
 
RMU heads back for another season in the Horizon League conference with 30 student-athletes.
 
"We are eager to begin our regular season and blend our new student-athletes with our returning group," said Potter. "We challenge these young men to make an impact in the classroom, in our community and on the field for Robert Morris University."
 
RETURNERS
Playing in his sixth year of college soccer, Nolan Hutter, will bring a veteran presence. He appeared in eight games this past season for RMU. Hutter is a local talent, who attended Montour High School and was an All-State selection his senior year of high school in 2017.
 
Also, two key seniors returning to the lineup are the Gilley twins. Chase Gilley was the team's leading goal scorer this past season, scoring seven goals and adding two helpers. He played and started in all 16 games for the Colonials and sniped in two game-winning goals along the way. His brother, Logan Gilley, recorded one goal and two assists in the 2022 campaign.
 
Another forward coming back for his senior year is the French native, Hugo Kadima. The tall power forward, standing at 6-6, scored three goals and two assists this past year, finishing second on the team in production.
 
Finishing out the returning seniors are Darren Gray and Evan LaMarca. Both mainly playing outside back on the left side, Gray last year provided three assists and LaMarca scored one goal.
 
Continuing with upperclassmen, the Colonials feature four juniors that were on the team this past season. In the midfield, Connor Hain received Horizon League All-Academic Team Honorable Mention accolades in 2022. He played in 16 games last year, starting in nine of them and collected two helpers.
 
In the previous campaign, Gabe Norris appeared in all 16 games for RMU, playing over 800 minutes for the Colonials. He ended the year with one assist. 
 
Defensively, Colton Spence and Lucas Hammerle return to the back line. Both players are local as Spence attended Deer Lakes high school and Hammerle grew up in Connellsville, Pa.
 
Bolstering the 2023 team, Victor Koah out of Thornton Heath, England was named to the Horizon League All-Freshman Team in 2022. He appeared in 16 contests, starting in eight of them, and registered two goals and two assists.
 
Joining him are four other sophomore returners. Sophomore William Dodzi Afawubo returns after a successful freshman season. Last year he appeared in 13 games, starting in 12 of them, and played in over 864 minutes for the Colonials.
 
Adding depth to the midfield, Anass Hadran out of Beni Mallai, Morocco is coming off a freshmen season where he appeared in all 16 games, making six starts. Hadran tallied one goal and one assist in his first year.
 
From Niort, France, the Frenchman Alex Lorigny begins his second year at RMU. In 2022, he appeared in 10 games and scored his first collegiate goal against Milwaukee. And, Connor Aley from Leonardtown, Md. finishes out the sophomore class of returners.
 
TRANSFERS
Over the off-season, Potter and his staff bring in four transfers to Moon Township.
 
Coming from UNC Charlotte, John Paul Mbuthia joins the Colonials with two seasons of college soccer under his belt. Growing up, he played for the Charlotte Independence youth academy, and won the ECNL National Championship in the spring of his senior year of high school.
 
Transferring from UMass Lowell, Kai McLoughlin out of Sydney, Australia comes to RMU with two seasons of collegiate soccer experience as well. As a freshman in 2021, he was named to the America East All-Rookie Team, scoring four goals in his first year. In 2022, he tallied one goal and two assists with 856 minutes of playing time.
 
At forward, a speedy striker, Kosi Udeh from down south in Birmingham, Ala., joins RMU for his sophomore season. Last year at the University of South Carolina, he played in three games. Before college, he played in the MLS Next League and led his high school team to a state championship and two regional championships.
 
And, from Konigswinter, Germany, Fabian Overkamp brings size to the Colonials backline at 6-2. Overkamp transfers from Alliance University. He brings experience as he was named CACC Defender of the Week once last year, and tabbed to the CACC All-Tournament Team.
 
FRESHMEN
For the class of 2027, RMU brings in a large group of 11 freshmen to the team from all across the world.
 
"I want to thank assistant coach Abraham Lopez who worked tirelessly in the formation of our 2023 recruiting class," stated Potter.
 
For the freshmen class, defense was important as the Colonials gathered five defenders and three goalkeepers.
 
Joining the defensive unit will be Mats Bramer from Dortmund, Germany, Robert Kolbeins from Garoabaer, Iceland, Tayshuan Reid from Jacksonville, Fla., Tim Koczulap from Berlin, Germany and Wil Hornbaker from Columbus, Ohio.
 
In net, assistant coach Austin Gorman will be working with three freshman goalies. Giancarlo Acosta comes to RMU from Bernardsville, N.J., Josh Lane joins the squad from Leicester, England and Kieran Gorgenyi is the other freshman goalie from North Reading, Mass.
 
At attack, the Colonials round out the class of 2027 with three players that can contribute at midfield and forward. Locally, Kyler Miller attended Greensburg Central Catholic high school and was a 2x All-WPIAL player and won WPIAL's in his freshman and sophomore seasons.
 
From Brighton, N.Y., at 6-1, Chase Alexandre offers more size to the Colonials midfield. And, finally, from Brussels, Belgium, Yanis Rucquois is another talent that Potter and his staff recruited.
 
"We are excited to welcome these 15 young men into the Robert Morris University Men's Soccer family," said Potter.
 
To view the full roster on the website, click here.
 
RMU's season begins this Thursday, August 24 at 4:00 p.m. against VMI at the North Athletic Complex. The Colonials will play four non-conference games before taking on Northern Kentucky on September 9 to begin conference play in the Horizon League.

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