After an admittedly up and down season, EMU’s still youthful soccer men are ready to make a move.
With a roster heavy on freshmen and sophomores, the 2015 Royals earned the final spot in the ODAC Tournament, but then gave eventual champion Washington and Lee their closest contest of the tourney.
Coach Roger Mast, entering his 26th season leading his alma mater, said that the growth of his players should pay dividends in 2016.
“We had significant wins against Roanoke and Johns Hopkins in the regular season,” he said of last year. “Some injuries to senior captain Jake Lind and goalkeeper Matthew Overacker (Mount Crawford, Va./Turner Ashby) may have impacted our season results some. We graduated four seniors and feel that we have a good core of players returning.”
The Royals were tabbed for eighth in the ODAC Preseason Poll, corresponding with their league standing last fall. The men were solidly in front of Hampden-Sydney but behind rival Bridgewater.
Click here to see the full ODAC Men’s Soccer Preseason Poll, including capsules on each team.
Along with Lind, all four of the graduated men (Jonathan Bush, Seth Suttles and Derek Harnish) were starters. But even with a roster once again thin on seniors, the Royals have an experienced core.
“We graduated two backs, a central midfielder, and a flank attacking player,” Mast explained. “We have worked hard to recruit for those positions. Our leadership team serving as captains this year includes Dylan Polley (Dexter, Mich./Dexter), Ryan Thomas (Telford, Pa./Christopher Dock) and Juan Luna (Mount Jackson, Va./Stonewall Jackson). All three are seasoned veterans in our system.”
Luna headlines the offense after leading Eastern Mennonite with five goals and five assists, giving him a hand in 10 of the team’s 18 scores in 2015. The forward was named All-ODAC First Team and VaSID All-State Second Team after his successful second season. Emmanuel Boamah (Alexandria, Va./Potomac) developed into a commanding defensive presence with his athletic 6-2 frame, earning All-ODAC Second Team honors as a freshman.
That group gives the Royals a seasoned backbone on the field, as both Boamah and Thomas are center backs, Polley is a central midfielder, and Luna heads the attack. Mast also singled out sophomore midfielders Dominic Powers (Culpeper, Va./Fiesta Valley) (one goal and three assists in 2015), Dave Drafton (Alexandria, Va./Howard Gardner) (one goal) and Erik Peachey (Lititz, Pa./Lancaster Mennonite) (one goal) as having a solid start during the preseason.
Training camp has again been flooded with excitement and opportunity, as Mast had a large recruiting class.
“Nineteen new faces join the roster from last season,” explained Mast. “Two players joined us last spring and two players join us who have previously played: Parker Leap (Harrisonburg, Va./Eastern Mennonite) and Kurtis Blosser (Harrisonburg, Va./Eastern Mennonite). The rest are first-year players and we are excited about a number of them. As we sort through their strengths in various roles it is evident that we will be able to play deeper into our roster with some talented players competing to play.”
The Royals return two of their three keepers from last fall. Overacker made 50 saves in 2015, including 10 in the season-opening win at Johns Hopkins, but had his efforts cut short with an injury for the second straight season. Emmanuel Kampanga (Kinshasa, Congo/American School) made 11 saves in two games while Cody Martin (Martinsville, Va./Carlisle) is new to the team.
The microcosm in goal is representative of what is happening in the field.
“Our strengths will be our team chemistry and depth at each position,” said Mast. “Our team speed has improved along with our ability to attack. Our intention is for this to lead to a higher goal production.”
With a week of preseason under their belts and just one more week until the Sept. 1 opener at Southern Virginia, Mast liked the direction of his club.
“We are working hard at both getting better each day that we train and developing a team culture that fits within our core values of a ‘We Before Me’ attitude,” he said. “Through hard work, discipline, professionalism and being Christ-centered we will be able to experience success far greater as a team than as an individual. We feel that our several days of training thus far have been moving positively towards that culture that is so important to us reaching our goals.”
After their road opener, the soccer men return to Harrisonburg for two weekend afternoon games, hosting Wesley on Sept. 3and DeSales on Sept. 4.
Although most home games will feature a free live webcast, note that due to staffing issues there will not be a webcast of the game against Wesley.
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