WALTHAM, Mass. – The Bentley University men's soccer program will celebrate its 50th anniversary on Saturday on Falcon Weekend. The 2022 edition of the men's soccer team will host Assumption at 11:00 am. And at halftime of the 2:00 pm football game, men's soccer alumni from throughout the years will be honored.

Before the soccer match kicks off, there will be an alumni game from 8:30 am-10:30 am. After the Bentley vs. Assumption match, there will be a reception in the beer garden in the south end zone of the football field.

Alumni that are interested in attending can register here: https://bentley.co1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_b3foft8LNg3Yk3s

The men's soccer program at Bentley came into existence in 1972 under the guidance of head coach Detlev Suderow, who helmed the team for its first five seasons. Suderow saw immediate success with an 8-3-2 record in that first season.

The Falcons in those early years were led by two future Bentley Hall of Famers in John Jackson '76 and Terry Carleton '77.

Jackson, who was inducted into Bentley's Hall of Fame in 1985, remains the program's all-time leading goal scorer with 41 and he is second in points with 104.

Carleton was inducted into the Hall in 1986 and was Bentley's 1977 winner of the Edward J. Powers Scholar-Athlete Award. He's the program's fourth all-time leading scorer with 84 points. He remains the only Falcon to be inducted into the CoSIDA Academic All-America Hall of Fame.

With those two, and two other future Hall of Famers in David Lipsett '76 and Richard Briand '78 leading the way, the team made the NCAA Tournament in 1975 with a 9-5-0 record.

The following year saw two more future Hall of Famers come aboard with the arrival of Dave Doucette '80 and Rick Miller '80. And in 1977, under first-year head coach Dwight Scandrett, the team produced a stellar 7-3-1 record and won its final four matches of the season.

A goalkeeper who had 17 career shutouts, Miller was a two-time, first team All-New England selection and Bentley's Powers Award Winner in 1980. Doucette was named All-New England in 1978 and was co-captain and team MVP of the 1979 squad.

Scandrett stepped down after the 1978 season and Jackson Foster took over in 1979. Foster was in charge for four years and led the team to second place finishes in the ECAC in 1980 and 1981.

Steve Shoff was the next man in charge from 1983-86, and he guided the Falcons to a first-place finish in the ECAC in 1983 and semifinal playoff appearances in 1984 and 1985.

After Shoff, Peter Simonini took over in 1987 and is the longest-serving and winningest coach in program history with 194 victories.

The early years of Simonini's tenure saw him coach two future Bentley Hall of Famers in Jose Tirado '92 and Miguel Martin '92. Tirado was a first team All-America in 1991 and is the program's fifth all-time leading scorer. Martin was the 1991 NE10 Player of the Year and a second team All-America that same season.

With Tirado and Martin running roughshod over opposing defenses, Bentley reached the NE10 finals in 1990 and 1991 but came up short each time to Stonehill. But after knocking on the door of a championship, the Falcons kicked that door down and won three straight NE10 Championships in 1992, 1993 and 1994. They defeated Springfield College 2-1 in 1992, Quinnipiac 5-0 in 1993 and Merrimack 2-1 in 1994.

Future Bentley Hall of Famer Lucas Jaramillo '96 was named tournament MVP in 1992 and 1994. A 2005 inductee, Jaramillo is the program's all-time leader in points with 107. He was a two-time, second team All-America in 1993 and 1995.

2008 saw the appointment of Gary Crompton, who is now into his 15^th season leading the program. Crompton has led a period of sustained success for the program in the highly competitive NE10.

Crompton had success right off the bat at Bentley. He led them to the NE10 Playoffs in 2008 after a three-year absence. That was the first of six straight trips to the postseason. Included in that stretch was a run to the 2010 NE10 Championship game.

Crompton was named the NE10 Coach of the Year for the 2015 season after he led the Falcons to an excellent regular season where they won 10 games and reached the semifinals of the NE10 Playoffs.

The 2017 season was one of the finest in team history. They made the NE10 playoffs as the No. 8 seed and turned its play up another level in the postseason. In the first round they defeated the No. 1 seed Adelphi and the No. 5 seed Le Moyne in the semifinals. That earned them a match in the finals with future Division I program Merrimack.

Trailing 1-0, a late goal in the 85^th minute by center back Adam Watkins stunningly tied the game and sent it to overtime. However, the Warriors heartbreakingly scored the winning goal 1:17 into OT.

For his work that season, Crompton was voted the New England Soccer Journal Division II Coach of the Year.

Crompton has led Bentley to the NE10 Playoffs nine times and 20 of his student-athletes have earned NE10 All-Conference recognition. Among the standouts he has coached is Weston Zeiner, a three-time, first team All-Conference selection and a two-time CoSIDA Academic All-America. Julian Stewart was first team All-Conference in 2019.

Other standouts have gone from Harris Smriko, Mike Nikiforov, Adam Watkins, Scott Levy, David Price, Connor Mote, Hunter Marshall and Nick Hoffman, to current captains Ronan Fitzpatrick and Sean McLoughlin.

With coach Crompton leading the way and a strong culture instilled, the program is nicely positioned for another memorable 50 years!