Hey all,

Here's the press release on the final roster:

4/15/2004

CITY ISLANDERS FINALIZE OPENING DAY ROSTER
Club announces 16 player signings; season opener set for Saturday

Harrisburg, PA – With their regular season drawing ever closer, the Harrisburg City Islanders have announced 16 player signings, setting their roster at 21 players for Saturday night’s opener in Northern Virginia (7:30 at the Maryland Sportsplex).

The new players were announced during a press conference at the Capital Blue Cross Building in Harrisburg, where the team also unveiled their 2004 home jerseys. All 16 signings are contingent upon final approval from the United Soccer Leagues.

In goal, Harrisburg will turn to a pair of promising first-year players, Peter Boyer and Dave Kern. Boyer, who made his Islanders debut in a 4-0 exhibition win over Binghamton University on Wednesday, earned Division III First Team All-American honors at Drew University in 2003 with a remarkable season: 12-2-2 record, 0.26 goals against average, 17 shutouts. Kern, who was consistently solid throughout the preseason, earned all-conference honors in 2000, 2001, and 2002 for Misericordia.

Harrisburg’s defense, which already featured veteran Mike Henning, was bolstered with the additions of Ian Carter, a star indoors from 1996-2002 and veteran of the Canadian National Team, and Keith Costigan, who served as a playmaking midfielder for the A-League’s Portland Timbers in 2001 and 2002 but has played in the back this preseason. Coach Bill Becher may opt to use Kyle Swords, a fixture indoors with the Heat and outdoors with the Hershey Wildcats from 1997-2001, in the defense. Added to that group will likely be Cedar Cliff grad John Lapore (a high-scoring striker at Kutztown University) and Craig Tyrrell (a Lincoln University product). Left-sided back Matt Tanzini, another Heat alum, is set to join the team when his playoff run with the MISL’s Kansas City Comets is completed.

Derek Potteiger, Mike Feniger, and Pete Shellenberger – all previously signed by the club – will be joined in the midfield by a host of fresh faces, including local products Steve Fisher (Hershey High School/Lehigh University) and Matt Crist (York/Messiah). David Schofield, a Long Island University grad who has played for the English Schoolboy Under-18 National Team, showed well in his preseason appearances, as did Jesse Elmore, a standout at the University of Illinois-Springfield. Swords and Tanzini are also both capable of playing in the midfield.

Up top, the Islanders boast the likes of David Bascome (who will join the team when his Baltimore Blast is done with the MISL playoffs), Aleks Radovic (a skilled veteran who led Harrisburg in scoring during the preseason), and Seamus Donnelly, a 32-year-old who posted double-digit goal totals for the Hampton Roads Mariners every year from 1998-2000. Also in the mix will be the hulking Matt Shealer (a native of Gettysburg and the all-time leading scorer in York College history) and rookie Steve Custer, a graduate of Elizabethtown University.

Keith Costigan never played at midfielder for the Timbers. He played at left outside defender, and occasionally came forward a made a decent cross, but he was not was a playmaking midfielder. He did do a pretty good job at his defender spot though.

He's a good guy though, and a pretty good player, so I think he's a good pickup for the City Islanders.

Incidentally, his #3 has been retired in Portland. But not on his behalf. It was for the late Clive Charles. But an interesting side note, I thought.