Our first game of the season is only 10 days away. We will travel to Tampa to play Tampa Bay United on May 27th. The field address has changed and we will update you once we know more.
Friendly Tonight
If you are curious to see how the team is doing, tonight we have a friendly against Lakeland United FC at our training facility. Coaches will use this game as a practice run for next week. If you would like to come, please make sure to bring your own chairs. Wednesday, May 17th at 7:00 PM at The Villages SC Complex off of Hwy 301.
Return players
Pedro Santos was here last summer supporting the Buffalo any way he could. While not on the field he did come to games and even helped around the office. Now he is ready and able to return to the field and we can't wait to see it happen.He is currently a Senior at Wingate University.
The return of Lucas has already been an eventful one. At the beginning of the year, he scored against Hertha BSC and St. Louis City during our friendlies. During the St.Louis game coach Anderson asked if he could sub back in a player that had already played the coach agreed but said "as long as you don't put that guy in, I'm ok." He was referring to Lucas Mauro :-) A recent UCF graduate he is ready to make this summer his best yet with the Buffalo.
Returning for his 3rd season with the Buffalo is fullback Austin Lukasik. Relentless, is the best word to describe Austin on the field. He plays with a "never slow down, never give up" attitude. He is a graduate of Vassar College and during our off-season, coaches an ECNL boys team in South Florida.
We got Frederico Ferreira late in the season last year and he made a big impact not only on the field but in the vibe he brought. We had 2 nail-biting, eerily similar come backs. Both games ended in 3x2 wins. Both wins were brought by late goals scored by him. His vibe off the field was also a great bust to the team.
Andrew Muller has been on the roster for a while but this is the first time he and Joao are actually in college! Andrew returns to us after a semester at Bryant and Stratton College.While here he has also been coaching a U9 team at our youth club. The little ones really enjoy learning from Coach Andrew.
Joao Ribeiro is back from his first year at Montgomery College.During school breaks, he flies home and plays with us every chance he gets. This year he got the chance to play against Hertha BSC and St. Louis City. Now he is here for the summer and ready to take on the USL2 season.After the Hertha BSC game, the player in the picture above came to find Joao to give him his jersey. He mentioned Joao's performance and said he wanted to make sure to let Joao know how well he did.
Both Niclas Wittur and Nicolai Muench like being called "Nick". Both Nicks are from Germany. It caused a little confusion at practice so the nickname "Alemão" was given to Niclas which is Portuguese for German. Now, even at the office, that's the only way anyone knows which Nick we are talking about. His performance was described as selfless as he kept the ball going to the box and continually created chances for the Buffalo to score.He graduates this year from Wingate University with a Business degree.
Nicolai Muench created several attacking opportunities last season and has the ability to win 1v1 situations to get past defenders. He was Man of the Match twice. Once at our first game and then later in the season during a comeback that helped us get a spot in the playoffs.He is returning to The Villages after a season at Mercyhurst University where he Played all 21 games and started 21, scored a total of 9 goals, and had 11 assists.
Takeru Moriyama left early due to a prior engagement last season. This season he told Coach he wants to go all the way and we are happy to see him back. He is coming from a good season at the University of South Florida where he started and played all 18 games.
New players will be announced in the coming days. We'll see you all very, very soon!
