Men’s Soccer for 2015 reminds me a lot of Men’s Basketball. No, they don’t have the returning POY or the ROY in the PL but there are a lot of other similarities.
At 10-8-1, the winning percentages are very similar. They both got mid seeds in the PL tournament but lost their 1st game. Both had really quality games. For soccer, they #14 American and tied #21 Navy so they were certainly capable of playing with very high quality teams. The problem, like basketball was inconsistency and for many of the same reasons. Seven freshmen started at least 2 games a year ago.
So why so bullish? Like basketball, almost their entire offense returns. In this case 87.5% of their goal scoring and 95% of their assists is back. Austin Decker, who was the #42 recruit in the country when he 1st arrived came back last year from a 3 year Mormon mission. He should be back in peak shape this season. Justin Worley who as a 2nd team Patriot League selection returns as our best defender. We lost our goalie and 2 defenders but the cupboard is nowhere near bare. Soph Joe Bogan will likely take over in net and in his 2 starts last year gave up only 1 goal with a .833 save %.
Like basketball, this may be one of Koski’s best recruiting class. Most of the seven man class played MLS Developmental Soccer rather than HS so stats are a bit sketchy. However, there are 3 **** recruits in this class all on defense. Alex and Oscar Greene are rated as the #94 and #97 recruit in the country. Calum Bishop, another defender was also a ****. There is also additional scoring coming in. Ben Bates is a *** recuit. Donovan Peryaff was, I believe the leading scorer of a very good Vardar Academy team. Mark Forrest lead Hill School to 2 state championships. This class is potentially loaded in a sport where freshmen can make an impact.
If they get the mental part of the game down, this team could be very, very good this year.