Thursday, August 29, 2013

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

Wednesday, May 8, 2013

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 10th 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 1st 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 3rd 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
 

Wednesday, May 1, 2013

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.

Thursday, January 3, 2013

More Post Season Honors

Ryan Russell
Two FSU soccer players earned additional honors for the 2012 season.

Senior Ryan Russell was selected as the ECAC South Region Offensive Player of the Year and NSCAA All-South Atlantic First Team.

The senior forward capped his final season as a Bobcat leading the conference with 14 goals and 11 assists for 39 points. Russell led the team with five game winning goals. In his short 2 year career, Russell has tallied 30 goals and 13 assists, with 11 game winners.

Russell is the first ECAC South Region Player of the Year in program history and helped the team to a 12-3-4 overall record and a 3-1-2 slate in the CAC.  Complete ECAC South All Star Selections
Chris Jones

Junior Chris Jones was named as a NSCAA All-South Atlantic Region Third Team Honoree. 

Jones was selected to the third team after helping Frostburg post a 1.30 goals against average. The Bobcat defense posted five shutouts of their 12 victories during the season. Jones also contributed on the offensive end this year as he posted four goals and was fourth on the team in points.

Russell and Jones along with four players from York college were the only represnetatives from the Capital Athletic Conference on the NSCAA All Region team.

http://www.nscaa.com/news/2012/12/2012-ncaa-division-iii-men-all-south-atlantic-region

Wednesday, November 14, 2012

Three Bobcats Earn All-CAC Honors

Ryan Russell

Frostburg State men's soccer standout Ryan Russell grabbed the league's highest honor as the Player of the Year for the second-straight season as the 2012 All-Capital Athletic Conference teams were released Thursday.
Russell, who was named the 2011 Capital Athletic Conference Player of the Year after leading the league in points (34) and goals (16), earned the honor again this season after finishing first in the league in goals (14), points (39), and assists (11).

The senior forward from Waldorf, Md., is just the third player in conference history to earn the award in consecutive seasons, as Mary Washington's Tony Trepal won it in 1991 and 1992 while Jon Ports of York won in the 2007 and 2008 seasons.

Joining Russell on the All-CAC first-team are senior midfielder Shawn Baker and junior defender Chris Jones.  Baker joins the first team as a repeat selection from the 2011 All-CAC squad. Baker, a three-year starter for the Bobcats, was second in the conference in points with 21 and third in goals with eight.
Shawn Baker
The Baker and Russell connection posted the league's highest scoring numbers for a team duo combining for an impressive 50 points on the year. The tandem also combined to notch eight game winning goals this season.

Jones was selected to the first team after helping Frostburg post a 1.30 goals against average. The Bobcat defense posted five shutouts of their 12 victories during the season. Jones also contributed on the offensive end this year as he posted four goals and was fourth on the team in points.
Chris Jones
York (Pa.), Mary Washington and Salisbury all joined Frostburg with having three members named to the first team. York took home the Rookie of the Year with freshman defender Matty Martinez while Mary Washington's Jason Kilby was named the 2012 Coach of the Year.


http://www.cacsports.com/sports/msoc/2012-13/releases/2012_All_CAC_MSoc.pdf

FSU Downed by Marywood

Our season came to an end last Wednesday night as we lost to Marywood College 4-1 in the first round of the ECAC Tournament.

Going into the game I wasn't sure how the boys would respond coming off the heartbreaking loss to York. I was hoping we could put the loss behind us and focus on Marywood, but we just came out very flat and didn’t look like the team that gave it everything they had in the CAC semi-finals. We were controlling the ball fairly well in the beginning of the game, but we just never had that look in our eyes and after Marywood scored on their first shot of the game in the 17th minute we knew it was not going to be our night. Marywood would score again towards to end of the half and we would have to try and dig out of a 2-0 hole.

We made a few substitutions at the half to try and instill some life into the boys, but it was more of the same in the second period. With just seven minutes gone Marywood would score two more goals. One on a bad give away off a back pass to the keeper and then a penalty kick one minute later. We finally showed some signs of life after the goals, but it was too little too late. Shawn Baker would get one back for us in the 62nd minute, but that would be our only tally of the game.

It was not the way we wanted the season to end, but the boys had put so much into the York game that there just wasn't much left for the ECAC's. The disappointment of not advancing to the CAC title game was still weighing on them and their hearts and heads were just not where they needed to be to compete in the ECAC’s. It's a disappointing way to wrap things up, but I am very proud of this team and the season they had. We didn't reach our goal of advancing to the CAC Championship, but we made some great strides towards being a nationally and regionally competitive team and a team that should always be in the talk come CAC playoff time. 

Our season concludes with a 12-3-4 record and ranked #5 by the NSCAA in the South Atlantic Region.