USD Men's Soccer 1998

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199B Season Preview

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Seamus McFadden, who enters his 20th season as the University of San Diego men 's soccer coach, returns six starters and fourteen letter– winners from last year 's squad that finished 11- 7-1. Last season the Tore– ros finished strong, winning six of their final seven contests, marking the sixth straight season with double-digit victories. For the upcoming '98 season Coach McFadden will have a solid mix of returners, including six starters, to go with an impressive list of newcomers. Heading the list of returners will be team captains Leighton O'Brien and Roland Weisheit. O ' Brien, the 1996 WCC Player of the Year and a two-time WCC First Teamer, returns for his senior season after leading the Toreros in 1997 with 16 points (5 goals, 6 assists). Slowed by early season injuries in '97, the senior midfielder hopes to put up numbers in '98 similar to his sophomore season of 33 points (10 goals, 13 assists). Weisheit, in his second and final season with USD, will spearhead the Torero defense at the defender position with his leadership and aggressive style of play. San Diego's offensive attack should be improved with the return of junior forwards Levi Parker (6 goals, 3 assists) and Mike Marvil (6 goals, 2 assists ; WCC Honorable Mention), along with the addition of transfer Devin Ebright from Saint Mary's, a two-time WCC First Teamer who scored 13 goals last season. Ebright, who led the Saint Mary's Gaels in scoring in each of his three years there, has 32 career goals to his credit and will finish among the West Coast Conference's all-time top ten. With eight players graduating from last year 's club, including the team's top two keepers , coach McFadden will be looking for his returners to all step up their games this season. Gone from the Toreros graduating class were its top two keepers, Carlos Castellanos and Joe Panian. Mc– Fadden will look to sophomore N'Aron Akins and newcomer Justin Neer– hof (Denver, CO) to step in and fill the void. Other returners expected to make key contributions this season include sophomore midfielder Miguel Suazo, a '97 WCC Honorable Men– tion pick who posted 17 starts; junior midfielder Brian O'Connor -- he topped last year's squad with 18 starts; junior defender Erin O'Connor - - he scored 8 points in 9 starts; senior midfielder Ryan Patrick --he has 47 career games under his belt;junior midfielder Antonio Gonzales, and soph– omore forward Joel Armstrong -- six starts in 19 games as a freshman. Newcomers expected to vye for starting spots and who should play a large portion of minutes this season include junior defender Fre– drik Johnsson (Hollviken, Sweden), freshman defender Eric Van De– men (Littleton, CO), freshman midfielder Mike Piserchio (Littleton, CO), freshman defender Colin Keely (Dublin, Ireland) and freshman defender Tim Petrovic (Essex, England). · ' -. · USD will be tested early on as they participate in the Fullertori Tourney with No. 3 Virginia and Kentucky, followed by the Washington Tourney with the No. 16 Huskies and Oregon State. The Toreros will also face Fullerton and UCLA in their own home tourneys leading up to league play in October. USD's first WCC match will be on the road at USF on October 9th; the Toreros will host Portland, Santa Clara and Gonzaga in home WCC matches . . •·:i. . '. ~ ; '