The men’s soccer team finished with a record of 8-7-1 in the 2012 season. They reached the Northeast 10 Tournament but were eliminated in the first round losing 5-0 to Southern New Hampshire University.
Sophomore forward, Daquan King, said his approach going into this season is helping this team of achieving goals like winning games and making an appearance in the tournament again.
King said he has put more weight on this offseason so he can cope with the leagues competitiveness.
“Going into last year, I was getting knocked around and found it hard to beat players like I normally would have,” King said. “I’ve been in the gym religiously since school ended and believe it will pay off come season time.”
King has already set a season goal for himself, as he said he wants to score 14 goals and become player of the year.
“It’s ambitious,” King said, “but that’s how my mindset is and has always been.”
The returning players have yet to see the incoming freshman and new players that they will play alongside for the season, but King said he is confident the coaching staff brought some much needed quality to the team.
According to King, the new players will surely make noise on the team and will make for a bright future for the future team.
“I’m just raring to get started and meet the young guys,” King said. “I’m most excited to get started and build chemistry with the guys and win more games than we did last year.”
King’s teammate, also sophomore, Steve Smith has the same approach going into this season: improving on last year’s record.
Smith has just recently come off a redshirt season so he said he is really looking forward to earning a starting spot for some good playing time.
As King touched upon the desire to stir up some more team chemistry this year, Smith was also not shy to admit there was little to none last season.
“The team was in ways split,” Smith said. “There was not great chemistry between these guys in the locker room and its vital we sort that out before we get this season going.”
Like King, Smith is rearing to get back onto the field and improve team-wise to reach the NCAA tournament and make a memorable year with the team.
Junior, and redshirt sophomore in the field, Tyler Naef said he is very excited for this season to start again. He is especially looking forward to reaching the Northeast conference again.
“I want to see this team compete at its highest level that I know it can,” Naef said. “Competing at a high level will allow us to get a good seed in the Northeast 10 Tournament and a bid for the NCAA tournament.
As all players do, Naef is looking forward to improving his skills on the field. Naef said he not only wants himself to get progressively better over the season, but he also is determined to help his teammates improve in hopes they can reach their highest potential.
King, Smith and Naef have stayed in shape for the upcoming season over the summer.
Naef said he stayed active by participating in a club team called The Sports Factory.
“I had also been following the preseason workouts,” Naef said, “to stay in shape.” Naef and his teammates already have a game marked down on the calendar. The game that the team is eyeing is the game against Southern New Hampshire University on October 10.
“It’s on their turf,” Naef said. “We’re hoping to go in there to get some redemption from what happened last year when they shut us out in the first round in the Northeast 10 Tournament.”
