2017 WPI Engineers football team
The 2017 WPI Engineers football team represented Worcester Polytechnic Institute in the 2017 NCAA Division III football season.[1][2] It marked the Engineers' 128th overall season. The team played its home games at Alumni Stadium in Worcester, Massachusetts. They were led by eighth-year head coach Chris Robertson. This was the first season that WPI competed in the New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) for football.
| 2017 WPI Engineers football | |
|---|---|
 | |
New England Bowl, W, 17–3 | |
| Conference | New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference |
| 2017 record | 9–2 (6–1 NEWMAC) |
| Head coach | Chris Robertson (8th season) |
| Offensive coordinator | Matt Kelly (1st season) |
| Defensive coordinator | Scott Sperone (1st season) |
| Captain | Lou Garcia Derek Pacheco Black Rice Brendan Hart Sam Malafronte |
| Home stadium | Alumni Stadium (Capacity: 2,000) |
| 2017 New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference football standings | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Conf | Overall | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Team | W | L | W | L | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Springfield $^ | 7 | – | 0 | 10 | – | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| WPI | 6 | – | 1 | 9 | – | 2 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| MIT | 5 | – | 2 | 7 | – | 3 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Merchant Marine | 4 | – | 3 | 6 | – | 4 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Catholic University | 3 | – | 4 | 5 | – | 5 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Coast Guard | 1 | – | 6 | 3 | – | 7 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Maine Maritime | 1 | – | 6 | 1 | – | 8 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Norwich | 1 | – | 6 | 1 | – | 9 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The Engineers finished the regular season with eight victories and two losses. The eight wins is the second most in school history (the Engineers posted nine wins in 1992), tying the 1983, 1989, and 1990 seasons.[3] WPI was selected to host a bowl game making it their third postseason appearance in school history. The Engineers defeated the SUNY Maritime Privateers 17-3 to win their first bowl game in school history.[4]
Personnel
Coaching Staff
| Name | Position | Joined Staff |
|---|---|---|
| Chris Robertson | Head Coach | 2010 |
| Matt Kelly | Offensive Coordinator | 2014 |
| Scott Sperone | Defensive Coordinator | 2017 |
| Brian Wehler | Offensive Line | 2016 |
| Galen Holmes | Defensive Line / Special Teams Coordinator | 2007 |
| Dan Ross | Running Backs | 2016 |
| Zach Besaw | Outside Linebackers | 2016 |
| Kyle Bernard | Wide receivers | 2017 |
| Howard Bradley | Assistant Defensive Backs | 2017 |
| Mike Kelly | Assistant Offensive Line | 2017 |
| Brian Murtagh | Defensive Assistant | 2017 |
Roster
Schedule
The 2017 schedule was officially released on June 29, 2017. WPI faced all seven NEWMAC opponents: Catholic, Coast Guard, Maine Maritime, MIT, Merchant Marine, Norwich, and Springfield. They also scheduled three non-conference games: Anna Maria of the Eastern Collegiate Football Conference (ECFC), Becker of the Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC), and RPI of the Liberty League.
On November 13, 2017, the Engineers were selected to host SUNY Maritime of the Eastern Collegiate Football Conference (ECFC) as part of the 2017 New England Bowl Series.[5]
| Date | Time | Opponent | Site | Result | Attendance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| September 1 | 7:30 p.m. | Anna Maria* | W 48–0 | 2,504 | |
| September 9 | 1:00 p.m. | RPI* |
| L 14–36 | 2,645 |
| September 16 | 6:00 p.m. | Becker* |
| W 38–0 | 1,640 |
| September 23 | 2:30 p.m. | at Springfield |
| L 10–42 | 3,574 |
| September 30 | 12:00 p.m. | Maine Maritime |
| W 45–0 | 694 |
| October 7 | 1:00 p.m. | at Catholic | W 31–14 | 1,217 | |
| October 21 | 2:30 p.m. | Merchant Marine |
| W 41–7 | 786 |
| October 28 | 12:00 p.m. | at MIT |
| W 24–21 | 1,310 |
| November 4 | 12:00 p.m. | Coast Guard |
| W 44–16 | 1,211 |
| November 11 | 1:00 p.m. | at Norwich | W 42–7 | 1,000 | |
| November 18 | 6:00 p.m. | SUNY Maritime |
| W 17–3 | 1,199 |
| |||||
- On August 29, the Engineers placed third in the inaugural NEWMAC Preseason Coaches Poll[6]
Awards and honors
Weekly awards
NEWMAC Football Offensive Athlete of the Week
- Blake Rice, QB - Week of October 9, 2017
- Sean McAllen, RB - Week of October 30, 2017
NEWMAC Football Defensive Athlete of the Week
- Dereck Pacheco, DL – Week of September 3, 2017
- Brian Mahan, DB - Week of October 9, 2017
- Nick Ostrowski, LB - Week of October 30, 2017
- Dereck Pacheco, DL – Week of November 6, 2017
NEWMAC Football Special Teams Athlete of the Week
- Spencer Herrington, K/P – Week of September 3, 2017
- Spencer Herrington, K/P – Week of October 23, 2017
- Spencer Herrington, K/P - Week of October 30, 2017
- Spencer Herrington, K/P - Week of November 6, 2017
D3football.com Team of the Week
- Brian Mahan, DB - Week of October 9, 2017
D3football.com Play of the Week
- Lou Garcia, DB - Week of October 9, 2017
Postseason awards
NEWMAC Special Teams Athlete of the Year[7]
- Spencer Herrington, K/P
NEWMAC All-Conference First Team[7]
- Luca Cerasani, DL
- Corey Coogan, WR
- Lou Garcia, DB
- Brendan Harty, OL
- Spencer Herrington, K/P
- Sean McAllen, RB
- Sam Malafronte, LB
- Dereck Pacheco, DL
- Austin Pesce, PR
NEWMAC All Conference Second Team[7]
- Sam Casey, DB
- Nick Day, OL
- Erik Fyrer, WR
- Nick Ostrowski, LB
- Blake Rice, QB
NEWMAC All-Sportsmanship Team[7]
- Aaron Hartford, DB
D3football.com All-East Region First Team[8]
- Spencer Herrington, K/P
Worcester Area Football Association Co-Offensive Player of the Year[9]
- Sean McAllen, RB
Worcester Area Football Association Steve “Merc” Morris All-Star Team[9]
- Sam Casey, DB
- Luca Cerasani, DL
- Corey Coogan, WR
- Nick Day, OL
- Lou Garcia, DB
- Brendan Harty, OL
- Spencer Herrington, K/P
- Sean McAllen, RB
- Sam Malafronte, LB
- Dereck Pacheco, DL
- Austin Pesce, PR
- Lain Zembek, FB
New England Football Writers Division II/III All‐New England Team[10]
- Sean McAllen, RB
CoSIDA Academic All-District Football Team (DIII)[11]
- Nick Day, OL
- Dereck Pacheco, DL
References
- http://www.d3football.com/teams/WPI/2017/index
- http://athletics.wpi.edu/sports/fball/2017-18/schedule
- "McAllen and Garcia Help Send Football to 42-7 Victory in Regular Season Finale at Norwich - WPI Athletics - WPI Athletics". athletics.wpi.edu. 2017-11-12. Retrieved 2017-11-13.
- "Football Earns First Postseason Win, Defeats Maritime (NY) in New England Bowl Series - WPI Athletics - WPI Athletics". athletics.wpi.edu. 2017-11-18. Retrieved 2017-11-20.
- "Football to Host SUNY Maritime Saturday Night in New England Bowl Series Matchup - WPI Athletics - WPI Athletics". athletics.wpi.edu. 2017-11-13. Retrieved 2017-11-13.
- "Springfield Tabbed as Football Preseason Favorites for Inaugural Season". NEWMAC. 29 August 2017. Retrieved 2 September 2017.
- "NEWMAC Announces 2017 Football Postseason Awards After Successful Inaugural Season". NEWMAC. 2017-11-15. Retrieved 2017-11-20.
- "D3football.com 2017 All-East Region Team". D3football. 2017-12-05. Retrieved 2017-12-09.
- Toland, Jennifer (2017-11-28). "Jennifer Toland: Holy Cross men's basketball team excited for trip to Northern Ireland". telegram.com. Retrieved 2017-12-09.
- Crosley, Roger. "2017 All-New England College Division Release" (PDF). New England Football Writers. Retrieved 2017-12-09.
- "Academic Football 2017" (PDF). 2017-11-16. Retrieved 2017-12-09.