by Andrew Vines ’29 on November 20, 2025
Athlete of the Week
If you were around Anderson
Stadium the night of Nov. 7 you would
have seen the stands packed for a big
Friday night matchup for the men’s
soccer team against the nationally
ranked No. 11 Georgetown University
Hoyas. This game was big in multiple
ways: the Friars were honoring all
eight of their seniors and graduate
students for Senior Day, and they had
a chance to clinch a spot in the Big East
tournament the next week in Maryland
with a win and the possibility of
making it with a draw.
In a game to honor the seniors,
a freshman stole the show. After
Georgetown took an early 2–0 lead,
the Friars had their backs against the
wall with the postseason on the line.
Merely 26 seconds after the Hoyas’
second goal, Angelo Ventrella ’29 cut
the Friars’ deficit to just one goal. At
the half, the Friars trailed 2–1 and
desperately needed another goal. The
second half was a stalemate until the
76th minute when Ventrella scored
his second goal of the night on a
corner kick from Pearse O’Brien
’27. The crowd erupted, and the
Friars secured a post-season berth
following the 2–2 draw.
How did Ventrella get to this
point in his career? Ventrella is from
Toronto, Canada. He is one of four
boys. Ventrella grew up playing
for ANB Futbol, a program that he
was a part of for 12 years. He was
one of Canada’s top 2006 prospects
before he committed to Providence
College in April of 2025. He has been
on trial with multiple French teams,
including Paris FC and QRM. During
his time at QRM, he performed well,
making multiple goal contributions.
In 2025, he also played in the League1
Ontario in Canada, a pro-am league.
Ventrella competed in the premier
division for Alliance United. They
finished No. 3 in the 11-team table.
After a strong season, Ventrella was
named to the First Team All-Stars
and was a finalist for the Young (U20)
Player of the Year and for Midfielder
of the Year.
Before attending Providence
College, Ventrella attended Bill
Crothers Secondary School. At
Providence, he is majoring in
business management. On the field
for the Friars, Ventrella scored his
first goal in a non-conference win
in a 3–1 victory at the University of
Rhode Island. His minutes started
to pick up a couple of games into
the season, and he played in over
half the minutes in Big East play,
with his only full 90-minute, multi-
goal game against Georgetown.
Of his five goals this season, four
came in conference play, scoring
against DePaul University and
Xavier University, in addition to
Georgetown. After his performance
against the Hoyas, Ventrella was
named the Big East Player of the
Week and Big East Freshman of the
Week.
Ventrella has great technical
skills and brings a competitive
spirit nature to the Friars, as
demonstrated by his two big
goals and the ensuing race to get
the ball back to half-field after the
first and celebration following the
second. He will play a big role at
Providence for years to come.