In the last few years the men’s soccer team has achieved national success, and this year they will try to do the same, but with a much younger squad.
With the loss of Rob DeFaveri and James Glenhill, their two leading scores from last year, the Stags are depending on returning players to pick up the slack.
Good preseason play from captain Justin Thompson, Bryan Harkin, and Spencer Collum give the team confidence for the upcoming season.
“We need our captain and more experienced players to step up and lead this team,” said head coach Carl Rees.
But Rees also believes the leadership needs to be directed to the new freshman on the team, who are going to play an intricate role this season. Fairfield expects good things to come from their four top recruits.
Joseph DosSantos and Ed Meyer are two freshman midfielders who the Stags hope will succeed, especially DosSantos. He is the freshman to watch this year because he has experience in regional, national, and international levels of competition.
With the loss of experienced goalkeeper Roger Noll, Fairfield was faced with finding some new talent to protect the net. Steve Burns and Andrew Frankel were recruited to contend for the keeper position. Frankel prevailed and started the Stags’ opening game and had six saves.
Fairfield lost its opener to Boston University 2-1. Graduate student Richard Morton had the Stags’ lone goal. But where are the rest of the goals going to come from this season?
Besides Thompson, Harkin, and Collum, sophomore Danny Attwell could provide the offensive force the Stags need. Attwell earned MAAC Rookie of the Year and a spot on the MAAC All-Rookie team last season. Attwell had six goals and four assists for 16 points.
Rees and the other coaches are still in the midst of putting this team together.
“We are finding where the pieces fit on this team, especially with the new guys finding out who goes where,” Rees said. “And we are still getting the team psychologically prepared for the upcoming season.”
Fairfield will also have to be physically fit for this season’s tough schedule. Besides the tough conference games, the Stags will have to face some experienced Ivy League teams that will thoroughly challenge Fairfield.
“Right now our goal is to win the conference,” Rees said.
This is no easy task for this young team. Loyola received the No. 1 preseason ranking within the conference, with Fairfield right behind in second. St.Peters (6-0) is playing well and will be a tough match for Fairfield also.
Rees said, “I think if we maintain our fitness, we have potential to be conference champions.”
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