The 2013 campaign is two matches old so far and the Cougars are off to a bit of a rocky start. The Cougars started off the season going up against a tough opponent, No. 9-ranked University of Rio Grande (Ohio), which proved worthy of its ranking.
The men’s soccer team stumbled in the opener last Saturday night, falling to the Red Storm 7-1 in a loss that was very though to swallow.
The Cougars kept it close after the Red Storm jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first half. Early in the second half, freshman midfielder Kamil Szczesniak gave out an assist to junior midfielder Brandon Simoes to make the score 2-1.
After that the Red Storm took over by scoring three goals in about five minutes to essentially put the game away. The team managed to finish the game with two shots on goal.
The Cougars’ next challenge came from the Shawnee State Bears at the same stadium on Sunday afternoon. This was a much closer game than the one on Saturday, as the Cougars and Bears each competed hard. The Cougars tried to keep it close, but the Bears’ two first half goals from junior midfielder Tanner Hopwood provided all they would need to seal the deal.
Junior goalkeeper AJ Pfatschbacher played better in his second start of the season, making eleven saves compared to the five saves he was able to make in the previous game.
The team was led offensively by junior midfielder Lorenzo Savino, who had three shots on goal for the Cougars as they fell to 0-2 on the season after Sunday’s lost.
The 2013 SXU Men’s Soccer Team will look to be better than the 2012 edition, which lost in the semifinals of CCAC Tournament.
The team did lose leading goal scorer Kyle Brenitenbach, but they still are a great group led by some talented upperclassmen. Senior Kyle Held returns for his last year after posting a 0.86 goals against last season, .829 saves percentage, and finishing 11-4 on the season. Simoes also returns for his junior season after being second on the team in goals scored last year with seven.
The men’s soccer team is coached by Ed Vucinic, who is in his tenth season as head coach of the Cougars. The team has six freshmen on the roster to go with a lot of experience, so it should be a fun dynamic to watch this season. The younger players look to develop and the more veteran players try to live up to their past seasons while teaching the younger players how to play collegiate soccer.
The men’s team also would love for Cougar Nation to come out and support them as they strive to be the best soccer team possible. Come support the Cougars for their next home game, which is September 10 on the Saint Xavier University campus at Bruce R. Deaton Memorial Field.
Damone Griffin
Copy Editor