Wilton Soccer

2024 Season Preview

Wilton High School Varsity Boys and Girls Open Season vs. Norwalk on Wed, Sept 4th

Wilton Soccer Youth Teams Poised for Growth

Wilton Players at Next Level (College and the Pros!)

September 2, 2024

After two weeks of pre-season camp, the Wilton High School Varsity Soccer teams are in final preparation mode for their upcoming FCIAC league schedules which kick off this week on Wednesday, September 4th for both teams.

The Girls Varsity team will play the Norwalk Bears at home/Lilly Field at 6:00PM on Wednesday, and the Boys Varsity travels to Norwalk High School for their season opener at 6:30PM.

Wilton High School Director of Athletics, Bobby Rushton shared that he is

“looking forward to another competitive season of Warrior soccer. There is a lot of excitement and positive energy around both programs by players, coaches and families. I’ve enjoyed the partnership between the Wilton Soccer Association & WHS Soccer Boosters and appreciate their collaboration in always trying to assist in our shared vision of creating a great high school experience for everyone involved. Let’s go Warriors!”

Wilton Warrior Soccer Schedules:

To follow all the Wilton Soccer action this season check out @wiltonhsathletics and @wiltonctsoccer on Instagram. 

For updates on Wilton Soccer Association visit www.wiltonsoccer.com

Boys Varsity 2024 Season Preview

The Wilton Boys Soccer team is full of optimism as it returns to the pitch. The program builds upon a history that includes multiple State championships, numerous All-Conference, All-State, All New England and collegiate players, and is one that always punches above its weight in the extremely deep FCIAC conference. See WHS Soccer Almanac here for all the history.

Warriors’ Head Coach, Edwin Carvajal, is now in his 6th season and continues to shape the team’s style and approach to the game. Carvajal, a Wilton High School graduate and former college player himself at the University of New Haven, brings a passion for the game and commitment to possession play that is fun to watch and difficult to defend. Carvajal also is a head coach of Wilton youth teams with the Wilton Soccer Association and has a stated goal to connect, motivate and teach from the ground up to the benefit of future Wilton Warrior teams.

Coach Carvajal highlighted that,

“We have strong team full of talented and smart players. The challenge and opportunity will be to play the full 80 minutes in our style, to generate positive play and take advantage of chances on goal. We know we can possess the ball as well as any team in the FCIAC. We need to turn that possession into shots and find the back of the net. I believe we can do it.”

The 2024 team’s foundation is built around a group of 15 seniors that have been playing together for their entire youth careers.

Captains and seniors, Matt DeMasi, Finn Burke and James Cameron bring experience and confidence to the core of the team while a halo of fellow seniors offer similar leadership qualities. DeMasi is a shut down outside defender who can also push his team into attack. Burke leads from a central or outside back position and Cameron is a skilled, high intensity player that forces defenses to adjust quickly to his change of direction and pace.

The defense will be further led by seniors including Evan Arghirescu, a smart defender that's always well positioned, Liam Christ, Jack Vermeulen and Arlo Wimsatt, and supported by newcomers, Sam Stapkowski and Caiden Crossen.

In the midfield, master distributor, Amit Solomon possesses and moves the ball with some of the best in the conference. Senior, Andrew Partenza, brings intensity and speed that challenges defenses, especially dangerous in combination with Solomon and Cameron. Tyler Coppola, also a senior, is a bruising midfielder that punishes opposing attackers and combines well with his teammates. Seniors, Brian Sallese, Warren Hamilton, Evan Lalor and Ahaan Sharma along with junior, Eamon Zadorian and sophomores, Philip Jeschke and Giacomo De Paolo will see time in midfield roles as well.

At the attacking positions, Wilton will work a rotation of experience and youth with seniors, Jack Crossen and Toby Plowright combining with junior, Liam Joy and sophomore, Gavin Levenherz.

Minding the goalkeeper duties will be sophomore Tristen Albright, a strong presence possessing size and skill with potential to develop into one of the strongest keepers in the conference.

The team opens with a 6:30 PM match on Wednesday, September 4th against Norwalk at Norwalk High School and then travels to Darien for a Friday, September 6th matchup at 4:30PM. The Boys will make their home debut on Tuesday, September 10th vs. Greenwich at 6:30 PM at Lilly Field. The team’s full schedule can be found here on the CIAC website.

Boys Soccer photos by Wilton Soccer sources.

Girls Varsity 2024 Season Preview

This year’s Girls Varsity team is excited for the fresh perspective and renewed commitment to an attacking style brought to the team by new Girls Varsity Head Coach, Thomas Connolly. Thomas arrives at the Wilton Girls’ Varsity role via a decade-long run at St. Joseph’s where he led the boys’ varsity program as well as a long time and dedicated coach of Wilton’s youth soccer teams as a key leader of the Wilton Soccer Association staff.

Coach Thomas brings his recognizable Irish accent, passionate style and impressive coaching credentials to a squad bursting with experience and talent. Thomas has earned high level coaching licenses from the Irish Football Association and U.S. Youth Soccer and is one of the most senior coaches in the State. Thomas will continue to coach at the youth level in Wilton as well, creating an important and valuable connection between the High School teams and youth players that should drive positive growth for the program for years to come.

When asked about his feelings for his new role here in Wilton, Thomas shared that

“The Wilton Girls Varsity Head Coaching job has always been my dream job. The program’s heritage is one of excellence as it has been among the winningest in the State. [The team has won 10 State Championships since the mid-80’s, many FCIAC league titles and boasts the world’s most accomplished soccer player in Kristine Lilly as an alumnus and namesake of its home field. See WHS Soccer Almanac here]. It’s an honor to lead this team forward, and as a Wilton resident myself with young children, I take great pride in the role and recognize how important it is for so many that we produce great soccer players, but also great leaders and people.”

The 2024 team is led by senior captains Kaitlyn Zizzadoro and Cosette Lepore. Zizzadoro is a skillful and relentless midfielder with an ability to spring teammates into the attack and take on defenders. She creates chances for herself and her teammates and is at the center of most key plays on all sides of the ball.

Lepore, now a Hobart commit, leads from the defensive center position organizing her team and keeping opponents honest with strong tackling and great anticipation. Lepore covers a lot of ground as one of the fastest players in the conference and also causes opponents’ stress when she gets forward, adding another dimension that asks hard questions of opposing sides.

Senior goalkeeper Addison VonLoeser returns in the net this season as a Gametime CT Top 25 player to watch. Addison gives Wilton a chance to win every game with a high save percentage and very low goals against average. She is committed to play at Sienna College next year, continuing a tradition of outstanding goalkeepers reaching the next level from Wilton.

Rounding out this spine of Wilton leaders are seniors Grace Costa and Mia Sommer who will connect the team from back to front, while Riley Casey and Kate Lane are positioned as wingers with great pace up and down the field. The defensive line is likely to see combinations of Kate Johnson, Gianna Todaro and Sadie Sherman, a junior, sophomore, and freshman respectively, protecting Wilton’s goal from the back.

Seniors Abbey Byrnes, Annalise Lamanna, Caroline Cronin, Quincey Burke, Teagan Stengrim, Abby Petrie and juniors and sophomores, Maddie Smith, Kerry Dodman, Maddie Pepitone, Morgan Donahue, Risa Traub, Sophie Hall, Madeline Rayment, Madison Pendergast and Isabella Kauod, will also play key roles all over the field.

Connolly is excited to see this group push to reach its potential.

“I am inheriting some tremendously talented student athletes that are ready and able to perform at a high level. I personally know many of these athletes from when I coached them in Wilton’s youth program, which is fantastic. We are focused on establishing a fun, possession-oriented style that favors attacking and goal scoring. If the team can possess the ball, play as a unit and with urgency, we should give many of our opponents a significant challenge.”

The team opens with a 6:00 PM match on Wednesday, September 4th against Norwalk at Lilly Field. The team’s full schedule can be found here on the CIAC website.

Girls Soccer photos by Gretchen McMahon Photography and Wilton Soccer sources.

Wilton Soccer Youth Teams Kick Off Fall Season

The Wilton Varsity players of today were the Wilton Soccer youth players of what seems like just yesterday. The current crop of Wilton Soccer youth players looks up to their varsity role models and are excited to emulate them each week as part of their own teams.

This year, WSA has 22 competitive teams across six age groups competing in tournaments and the Southwest District (FCIAC equivalent for youth soccer) which has nearly 400 teams from neighboring towns such as Westport, Ridgefield, Stamford, New Canaan, Darien, Fairfield, Trumbull, Weston and more.

In addition to those 22 competitive teams, WSA’s recreational program will again see nearly 500 players this fall season in their programs for 3-5 year olds, K-8th graders and TOPSoccer. Over the course of a calendar year, over 1,000 unique players will participate in a Wilton Soccer program or team. Supporting it all is a team of ~100 dedicated volunteers that rise to the challenge each season to make it all possible for players and their families.

WSA youth players are also benefiting from rising alignment with the Wilton High School Varsity program and WHS Soccer Boosters. Coaches Edwin Carvajal (Boys Varsity) and Thomas Connolly (Girls Varsity) along with WHS supporting coaching staff including Coaches Spencer Overbeeke, Xavier Cardone and Travis Rose all also coach WSA youth teams in addition to their WHS roles. The WHS/WSA coaching team are actively seeking to build deep connections and strong skills among youth players before they reach the High School level.

WSA Coaching Director and John Jay High School Girls Varsity Coach, David Nuttall, offered that,

“The ability to have our Wilton youth players interact with and be coached by Wilton’s Varsity coaches and players is invaluable. The youth players gain an understanding of how the varsity team plays and the traits of a successful player, ultimately building towards more robust, more skilled and more cohesive future WHS teams. Teams that grow together generally succeed at higher levels when they reach the full-size game and high school.”

High School Varsity players also support the youth players in numerous ways during their season as a way to give back to their community and to gain service and leadership experiences.

This past summer, WHS Varsity boys and girls players were counselors for the WSA-sponsored “Warrior Soccer Camp” for youth players with all funds raised supporting the WHS program, a now annual tradition each summer. In addition, WHS players volunteer precious time as “TOPSoccer Buddies”. TOPSoccer is a program for players with special needs of any kind to enjoy the game. TOPSoccer is led by Toby Plowright (WHS ‘25) and his mother, Claire, and was led by Heather, Toby’s older sister before that. TOPSoccer has been in Wilton for 20+ years and has seen countless players benefit as both buddies or participants.

Finally, WHS soccer players are also looking to assist with WSA’s Saturday morning Tots & PreK program and K-2nd teams this fall. If interested to support, sign up HERE!

First photo below by Regina Calderone Photography, others by Wilton Soccer sources.

Wilton Soccer Players at the Next Level (College and Pros!)

Wilton boys’ soccer players currently at the next level include Owen Lillis, currently a senior captain at St. Lawrence University, Zarius Eusebe, a junior at Denison University, Nathan Bennett a senior at NYU and Jake Lash a junior at Ohio Wesleyan.  Wilton-native, Max Andrews, is playing his junior season at Boston College.

Wilton-native, Ian Hoffmann continues his professional career with Lech Poznan in the Polish first division. Hoffmann played for WSA, Beachside, Red Bull Academy, and the US Youth National Team in his progression to the pros which included time with FC Koln of Germany, Houston Dynamo of the MLS and Moss FK in Norway.  

Hoffmann’s Wilton friend, Nico Benalcazar, is currently playing in the MLS with FC Cincinnati after progressing through the NYCFC system and also earning All-ACC honors during four years at Wake Forest University.   

On the girls’ side, graduate and former all State goalkeeper, Erynn Floyd, is the starting keeper at Division I Louisville and is now in her junior year.  Floyd started all 18 games for the Cardinals as a sophomore, notching 62 saves and a .731 save percentage over a remarkable 1,575 minutes. Also a goalkeeper, Reagan VonLoeser is currently playing at Southern Connecticut State University and entering her sophomore season.

Heather Plowright (WHS ‘22) is playing Division I soccer at Lafayette University and seeing meaningful time on the pitch for the Leopards and Abby Kyle is a junior at Kenyon College where she plays in the midfield as well.

Photos below sourced from and are property of the players’ universities and clubs’ websites and other media presence made publicly available.