CHARLESTON, W.Va. – Last year the University of Charleston men’s soccer team finished a magical season at 19-4 with the WVIAC regular season championship, tournament championship, and an appearance in the NCAA Division II Elite Eight.
The Golden Eagles return 8 starters with a wealth of experience which will pay off in 2010. Third year head coach, Chad Duernberger is excited to get the upcoming season underway.
“We have a strong core of student-athletes coming back which we were very pleased with for their work rate in 2009,” Duernberger stated. “With the addition of 13 newcomers, it’s important to get everyone to mesh early if we want to play at the highest level.”
Charleston will enter the 2010 season ranked #7 in the country according to the NSCAA National Poll.
Goalkeepers
Sophomore Sean Teepen will return in net for the Golden Eagles after an excellent performance in 2009. The First Team All-WVIAC and Second Team All-Atlantic Region honoree finished 16th in the country with a Goals Against Average of .758 and 12th in Save Percentage at .854. Incoming Freshman Koty Chandler (Chillicothe, OH) will be added to the goalkeeping core for 2010. At 6-foot-4 180 pounds, Chandler will give plenty of size to the Golden Eagles.
“We are very pleased with Sean’s ability, attitude, and work-ethic,” Coach Duernberger stated. “Koty gives us depth at the position and we are glad to have both of these players in net for us.”
Defenders
Charleston returns all four starters from a year ago, which proved to be one of the best back lines in the country. The Golden Eagles finished 8th in the nation last season in shutout percentage.
“We knew we had the ability to score goals in 2009, but it was a matter of not conceding goals which was the concern. I believe this hit home with our backline and they took pride in limiting our opponent’s opportunities. You could sense an excitement in our backs whenever we earned a shutout in a match,” Duernberger said.
The back four consisted of junior’s Justin Emerson, Craig Cantor, and Kyle McCarty along with Sophomore Adam Hintz. The Golden Eagles also welcome England international Dan Walmsley after redshirting in 2009. The center back will add depth to an already strong defense. As for newcomers, Charleston adds James Hall, Dylan Bogdan, Zach Higginbotham, Tony Serge, and Ceth Locklear to the defense in 2010.
Midfielders
The graduation of Lamar Cancino and the loss of Predrag Ivanovic and Drew DeAngelo to transfers leaves the Golden Eagles needing to fill holes within the midfield in order to be as successful as last season.
“We lost three players who contributed to our success in 2009. Lamar gave us experience as a right midfielder and Drew had strong pace as a left-sided player,” Duernberger stated. “Obviously replacing a Second-Team All American in Petza (Predrag) will be tough to do, but we are very happy with who we brought in to strengthen our midfield.”
Looking to replace those areas as strong candidates for starting roles is English central midfielder Ryan Osborne, Coastal Carolina University transfer Eddie Mangan, and Junior College transfer Marshall Ngobidi. Osborne sat out the 2009 season as a redshirt while Mangan and Ngobidi look to finish out their careers with Charleston.
Although UC looks to replace key players within the midfield, the Golden Eagles bring back 2009 NSCAA Second-Team All-American and WVIAC Freshman of the Year Rob Vincent. “Rob is a talented player, but what separates him from other talented guys is his work rate and his desire to not be satisfied with where he is as a soccer player. He continues to want to get better and push the guys around him everyday,” Duernberger stated.
Charleston will also look to Chase Robertson, Michael Osuji, Adam Gourchane and Bijan Daghsteib to contribute in the midfield.
Forwards
UC proudly returns the 2009 WVIAC Player of the Year and NSCAA Third-Team All American Dion Peters for scoring duties up front. Peters finished with 18 goals and 5 assists in 2009 including Charleston’s lone goal in the Elite 8.
The Golden Eagles will look to replace NSCAA All-Atlantic Region player Darko Karamatic due to transferring to Division I Jacksonville University. Looking to pair up with Peters will be Harry Machacha of Tyler Junior College in Tyler, Texas. Machacha helped guide Tyler to the 2009 Junior College National Championship and a perfect 21-0 season.
The Golden Eagles also return Jordan McCollam who contributed 2 goals and an assist last season. Charleston also welcomes Connecticut native Bryan Gaska to help continue UC’s scoring ways. Last season, Charleston brought exciting soccer to the Capitol City by finishing 11th in the country in Team Scoring (2.65 goals per game), which they will try to replicate in 2010.
The Golden Eagles open their home schedule on September 8 against regional opponent Urbana as the teams will kickoff at 7:30pm at Triana Field.