Bobcats Make it Three in a Row

We are still not playing up to our potential, but we are finding ways to win games and that is a good thing.  Wednesday night the boys found the back of the net three times to blank Bethany 3-0.

We have not played the prettiest style of soccer as we are struggling with doing a lot of the little things correctly, but we are keeping good shape in the back and not allowing to many scoring opportunities.  The offense is doing just enough to get us on the board and claim victory, but as the season progresses we'll need to be better on the ball and with our decision making.

Pablo Torrano got us on track early as he skillfully volleyed home a rebound off a shot by Jared Fohs in the third minute.  We controlled most of the play, but Bethany did create a few opportunities including a questionable off sides call that went in our favor when they were in on goal for a clear breakaway.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uUeM3vBEXbU

We seemed to calm down and gain a little more control in the second half.  Freshman Chris Herbert notched his second goal of the season when he followed up another rebound off a Torrano shot.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2VfzWdZAeZg

Kunle Akinfeleye also tallied his second goal of the season when he out raced a defender and the goalkeeper to slot home the third goal of the game late in the match.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DrQrv5AO7Gk

Senior Drew Hock picked up his second win of the season in goal while the defense of Chris Jones, Bernard Fatusin, Jared Fohs, Bryan Lentine, and Phil Nana combined for their third shut out of the season.

We will return to action Saturday at McDaniel College for a 4:30pm Kick-off.

FSU Defends Tournament Title

The boys claimed their third straight FSU Kick-off Tournament Championship this past weekend.  All the games were fairly competitive as three out of four went to overtime.

On Friday night we faced off against Grove City College.  This was a hard fought game as both teams worked extremely hard and had a lot of energy on opening day.  Neither team produced too many scoring opportunities, but Grove City did hold the advantage in shots.

With about a minute and a half left in the second overtime senior Chris Jones made a tackle in the box and freshman Chris Herbert launched a ball all the way down field to a charging Pablo Torrano.  Torrano took off and out competed two Grove City defenders for the ball and tucked away a left-footed shot in the corner to give us the opening day win.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SUp6PeHquZU

On day two the boys were able to get in more of a rhythm against Pitt Greensburg and were able to knock the ball around a little bit more.  Late in the first half Kunle Akinfeleye tapped home a sitter as Chris Jones slid the ball across the box after a corner kick.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wiw9mKk8iFI

Freshman Chris Herbert notched his first collegiate goal minutes after to give us the 2-0 lead and all the insurance we would need.  The defense did well holding Greensburg to just two shots including zero in the second half.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B9PKbkSutzs

It was a great way to start the season getting two shut-outs at home, but we know we have a lot of work to do still.  We had some guys step up and play some significant minutes while we deal with some early season injuries.  We hope to have Kyle Walczak, Michael Norman, and freshman Jonah Mohre back in about a week, but will probably have to wait a little longer before Bryan Whitmore and Mitchell Muise can take the field.

We return to action on Wednesday night at 7pm against Bethany College.

Bobcats add Twelve New Players

The 2013 FSU men's soccer team has the strange dynamic of being an old and young team all at the same time. 

Although the team has 14 returning seniors we also have 12 new players on this years team.  11 freshman and 1 returning player who sat out the 2012 season make up this years class.  Returning for his sophomore season after leaving school for a year is winger Joe Clarke. 

New to this years team are forwards: Jonah Mohre (Penn Fusion), Jason Weatherly (Freestate), Nabayee Tesfu (Real Maryland) and Derek Fuller (ASA).  In the midfield will be Jonathan Lippitt (FC Frederick) and Chris Herbert (FC Frederick) while seeing time in defense will be Andrew Klotz (MD Rush) and Anthony DePaz (Calverton).  There are also 3 freshman GK's competing for the starting spot: Hassan Mostafa (Pachuca), Jackson Bicknell (SAC) and Quinn Jenkins (FC Frederick).

While we should have a lot of veteran leadership on the team we still lack some game experience as only 4 of the returning seniors were starters.

2013 Alumni Game

The annual Alumni game was a good way for the boys to wrap up their pre-season friendlies. 

With good numbers on the bench and an energetic attitude the Alumni jumped out to a 1-0 lead.  Unfortunately fatigue began to set in after about 15 minutes and the abundance of substitutions were not enough to hold the current players back.  After falling behind 4-1 Alex Super and Ryan Russell helped close the gap for the Alumni to 4-3, but it was not enough as the boys put one more away for a 5-3 victory.

It was a great day for the team to make some connections with the former players and to build some bonds with the guys for the future.

Thank you to all the Alumni who made it up for the day.  It was great to see a few guys that were on my first team here at FSU that had not made it back in a while to the Burgh.  I cannot leave out my loyal regular Alumni who consistently show up and make sure the weekend is a great success! 

Deep Creek Open 2013

On a slightly overcast day in McHenry, MD the boys enjoyed a break from their daily pre-season activities.  After a 2 year hiatus the Deep Creek Open returned with a competitive nature as 4 teams were all within 7 strokes of each other.

Taking home the 2013 Deep Creek Open Championship was seniors; Brandon Rodgers, Chris Jones, Jason Bennett, and Jared Fohs.  They edged out the team of freshman; Andrew Klotz, Jason Weatherly, Derek Fuller, and senior Collin Sainz by 3 strokes.

All in all it was good day for the boys to get a break from training and have a little fun....

Rodgers, Fohs, Bennett, and Jones

Russell Grabs 2nd Straight Male Athlete of the Year Honors

The 2012 - 2013 Frostburg State Athletics Banquet was held Monday evening at the Bobcat Arena.  Team awards were given out to Ryan Russell, Chris Jones, Pablo Torrano, and Scott Wasser, while Russell and the men's soccer team were honored by the athletic department.

 Senior Ryan Russell was awarded with his second straight Male Athlete of the Year honor by the FSU athletics department.  Russell has had a remarkable career here at FSU.  In only two seasons of play for the Bobcats he will finish 10^th all-time in goals with 30, and points with 73.  He is the two-time CAC Player of the Year; he earned ECAC South Offensive Player of the Year this season, and was a NSCAA All-South Atlantic 1^st team selection this year.  Ryan led the CAC in goals and points the past two seasons and helped guide the men’s soccer team to two straight CAC semi-final and ECAC tournament appearances.  Ryan was also selected as the team offensive MVP.

 Junior Chris Jones was selected as the team’s defensive MVP.  He was the leader of a backline that only had one regular season loss and allowed 1.28 goals per game.  He also recorded 4 goals and 1 assist from his center back position.  Chris was awarded for his hard work as an All-CAC 1st team member and a NSCAA All-South Atlantic 3^rd team recipient.

 Pablo Torrano was selected as this year’s Bobcat award winner.  The Bobcat award goes to the individual that has the work rate and attitude that exemplifies what a true FSU soccer player is all about.  Pablo was third on the team in goals despite missing the middle of the season with a separated shoulder.  He fought hard to get back on the pitch and played a significant role in the conference playoffs.

 Scott Wasser is the 2012-13 recipient of the Gilbert Gray Memorial Award.  The Gilbert Gray award goes to the player who puts his team first and has the desire for excellence in his intellectual and physical self. 

 The men’s soccer team was also the winner of the Comeback Team Performance at the banquet with our 5-4 OT thriller against Bethany College.   Down 4-1 on the road at Bethany the men’s soccer team came back to win the game 5-4 in overtime.  Going into the game FSU was without 4 starters including leading goal scorer Ryan Russell.  After leading the game 1-0 just five minutes into the match FSU would go on to surrender 4 consecutive goals.  With just under 18 minutes to go in the game the Bobcats would go on a tear and score 3 goals in under 10 minutes to tie the match and would score the game winner just 2 minutes into overtime for the sudden death victory.

Ryan Russell, Scott Wasser, Chris Jones, and Pablo Torrano

 



FSU Men's Soccer Team at Banquet
 

Bobcat Stadium Construction - Phase II

Exciting news concerning the construction going on a Bobcat Stadium.  Phase II has begun and will hopefully be complete by the early fall.

Phase 1 began last summer with the destruction of the old bleachers.  The newest set of bleachers on the home side were moved to the away side to make for a more appealing visitors section.  The rest of the home bleachers were destroyed and a new set of bleachers were constructed.

Phase II which is currently in progress is the completion of the home bleachers, which will include an additional 8 rows and individual seating in the center of the stands directly below the press box.  The new press box will be equipped with a handicap accessible elevator, the Presidents box, and new sports communications suite and brand new team rooms.  The team rooms will be a great addition for pre-game and half-time talks.

Phase III which is still a few years away will be the re-configuring of the track and an expansion of the playing surface which will give us a wider field of play.