The University of Tampa Men’s Soccer team is welcoming many new faces as they are set to open the 2010 season.
Coming of a 17-3-1 2009 campaign the Spartans have lost almost half of their starters. Ryan Thompson, Dan Ingvarsson, Pascal Millien, Kyle Williams, and Zach Fraser are the five starters that graduated in May, ending their collegiate soccer careers with the Spartans.
The team’s rigor will be taking a big hit as Ingvarsson, a second team NSCAA All-American, Millien, a third team All-American, and Thompson, a first team NSCAA All-American and back-to-back Sunshine State Conference Defensive Player of the year have left the team behind.
In 2009, these players led their team to claim the South Region Championship. The team defeated the Rollins College Tars to advance to the NCAA Quarterfinals where it suffered a heartbreaking 1-0 loss to the Lees-McRae College Bobcats in Banner Elk, N.C.
Tampa would later go on to watch Lees-McRae advance to the NCAA Final at Pepin Stadium, UT’s own turf.
Returning to the squad this year for their senior seasons are defender Daniel Bergstrand and forward Lister Warren, who are expected to drive the successes of the 2010 Spartans. Junior Ryan Griffin also returns to anchor the team at midfield.
“Expectations are the same this year as they were in 2008 and 2009, and that is to win every game we play,” said Griffin, the midfielder.
“We’ve lost many incredible players to graduation but we still have a great group of guys from last year’s squad and many new faces waiting to make their mark on the field.”
After having standout freshman seasons, Brian Fekete, Dominic Goncalves and Matt Noble are coming back for their second year with even greater persistence and power.
UT will be welcoming two transfer students from Northern Oklahoma College (NOC).
Junior David Gulec from Orebro, Sweden and sophomore Kemal Malcolm from Kingston, Jamaica have both joined this year with intent to assist their new school to victory.
At NOC, Gulec collected a team-high 12 assists, while Malcolm totaled 28 goals in 22 matches.
The Spartans have, however, struggled during the preseason, being shut out three times, and having been outscored by their opponents 10-0.
It is noted, however, that the three opponents compete at an NCAA Division I level, yet coach Adrian Bush would never accept that as an excuse, only a reason to work harder.
“Our season starts September 3rd against Montevallo and that is what everyone is focused on. We are going to take one game at a time and our primary focus is to win our conference and qualify for the NCAA tournament,” explains Bush.
The Spartans will need to find and correct their problems before the season starts in order to retain their reputation as an NCAA Division II powerhouse.
Maya Todd can be reached at mtodd@spartans.ut.edu.