by O'Livia Lopes '26 on November 3, 2022
Sports Staff
Athlete of the Week
The Providence College men’s soccer team record currently stands at four wins, four losses, and seven ties. Given their strong holding season, these last upcoming regular season games give a promising outlook for their Big East Tournament appearance, yet to come. After the Friars hosted their recent two-game homestand, they came out with a win against Butler University and a tie against St. John’s University. With their match against Butler on Oct. 15, Gil Santos ’23GS and Ramzi Qawamsy ’23GS were both able to notch their third goal of the season, giving Providence a 2–1 win over the Bulldogs. The first goal of the game, by Santos, was a strike hit towards the bottom of the net’s right corner. This game marks a season high for Santos, as he played a total of 61 minutes in this game. With this goal, Santos provided the Friars with an early lead, all within the first eight minutes of the first half. This match over Butler University marked their second victory from late in their 2021 season, when they won 2–1 over the Bulldogs in the Big East Semifinals.
Two days after this match, Santos was named to the Big East Weekly Honor Roll on Oct. 17–the second time Santos has earned an honor roll nod this season. Santos is a graduate student and forward on the team playing in his fifth season. His 2021 season was cut short after just five games when he was injured. However, he made his postseason debut on Nov. 11 of the 2021 season in the semifinals. Even more impressively, in his first collegiate season, he received two title awards of Big East All-Freshman Team and Big East Freshman of the Week.
Santos’ season highs this year started in the Friars’ match against the University of New Hampshire, when Santos scored his first goal of the season. The goal was especially impressive as it was a bicycle kick assisted by Luis Garcia that appeared on the NCAA official Twitter account for Sports Center’s Top Ten of that week. After this, the Friars faced Marquette University on Oct. 8, and Santos scored his second goal of the season after taking two good strikes to the net and executing the last one. Following this brings us back to Santos’ great game against Butler. As the season moves along, so do the talents and accomplishments of Santos both off and on the field.
Before Santos’ career started here at PC, he resided in his hometown of Parede, Portugal. This is where he played for the Sporting Club of Portugal and won the U19 National Championship in Portugal with his club. Now, we see Santos dominating his fifth season, with goals broadcasted and shared throughout social media showing just how well he finishes through with every play. Up last for the Friars’ regular season schedule is a home game against Creighton University on Nov. 2, after two consecutive ties to St. John’s University and No. 19 ranked Xavier University, hoping to exit the season with the big win the PC community is anticipating.
With the presence of Santos, the Friars are in a great place to make it far in the Big East tournament. The big question is: will the Friars see light for another appearance in the championship game this 2022 season?