USD Men's Soccer 2007

FRESH LOOK FOR USO WILL PAY OFF IN THE LONG RUN

The University of San Diego men's soccer team lost only four starters this past season and will return 15 letter winners, including senior front-man Dusti ng Guerrero and senior defender Brett Hiroto for the 2007 season. The Torero coaching staff w ill look heavily to the upperclassmen to guide this year's squad to the post season. However, the underclassmen, including sophomore defensemen Ryan Peterman and sopho– more forward J.T. Howlan (three goals in 2006), should not be over looked. "There are a lot of different variations we can use w ith this squad;' said head coach Seamus McFadden. "It's just a matter of fit– ting the right peg in the right hole:' The Toreros were recognized by the con– ference with numerous AII-WCC honors in 2006. Three seniors (Ryan Guy, Michael Caso, and Kevin Meissner) all earned first team All-Conference honors. Wh ile return– er Tim Grey earned both Honorable Men– tion and All-Freshman honors. Sam Reeder also made the Honorable Mention team, and Ryan Peterman made the All-Freshman team as well. With returners like Grey, Pe– terman, and Reeder, the Toreros w ill make a strong presence in the wee. "We've got lots of experience and now we need to translate this into performance." Said McFadden In the wee pre-season coaches'poll, USO was picked to finish third after lead ing the conference w ith 47 goals last season and tying a WCC record with 22 goals against league opponents. The Toreros will look to improve upon that mark this upcoming season with la st year's rookie squad gaining more experience on the field. "We initiated a new system in the spring and it worked well for us;' explained McFad– den. "We had good results and hopefully some of that success can carry over from the spring. The Captains The team chose seniors Dustin Guerrero and Colin Jennings, and junior Sam Reeder to lead the 2007 squad.

Up Front Returning to the front line th is season are sophomores JT Howlan and Chase Tangney. Tangney posted three assists in his 15 appear– ances last season wh ile Howlan recorded three goals and four assists in his 19 appearances. Looking for field time at the striker position w ill be Kyle Ochoa and Brandon Kelley. "Depending on the situation, we'll be work– ing on a substitution pattern to integ rate Ochoa and Kelley up front;' said McFadden. Ochoa, a 6-foot freshman from Rancho Cu– camonga, Calif. was a four year scholar-athlete scoring 25 goals for Etiwanda, and was a high school teammate of Mike Barbeito. Kelley, a 6- foot freshman comes from Snohomish, Wash. where as an upperclassman he combined to score 48 goals and was named team MVP and Gatorade State Player of the Year as a senior. In The Middle Backing up the forward attack and thwarting off the opposition wi ll be sen iors Tannen Weis, Col in Jennings, and Dustin Guerrero. Jennings wi ll play a powerfu l role in the midd le with his abil ity to make plays happen when the pres– sure ison. Guerrero is USD's leading goa l scorer (4) returning in 2007 wh ile tallying three assists and taking seven shots on goal, followed by Weis with three goals last season. "Traditionally Guerrero gives us a good work ethic and drops back in a hurry and works really hard in the midfield;' commented McFadden. Helping out the seniors in the midfield wi ll be sophomore Mike Barbeito, who scored two goals in 11 appearances. Freshman Ke– gan Johnson from Bend, Ore. also has great potential in the future for USO. Johnson was team captain, two-time All-League, All-State as a senior, and helped lead his team to an un– defeated season until the championship game where they finished second in the state. The Backfield The defensive side of the field will be led by seniors Brett Hiroto and Blaine Smith, and ju– nior Sam Reeder. Junior Dane McCleary and sophomores Ryan Peterman, Tim Grey, Tony Ortega, and Fabrice Gautrat will also play vita l roles in rounding out the defense. The fresh– man defenders include Chris Busch, Max Blu– menshine, JD Penilton, and Josh Converse who will al l compete for playing time in 2007. Busch, a 5-foot-9 freshman, joins the team from Santa Cruz, Ca lif. where as a Junior he helped lead

his team to the Central Coast Championships and then to the fina ls his sen ior year. His team– mate, Josh Converse, was named WCAL Honor– able Mention playing for the Santa Cruz Country Breakers club team. Blumenshine, a 5-foot- 11 freshman, was named Al l-League as a senior. The Last Line .. Kelin Briones is due up to take control of the box. The 5-foot- 11 junior tallied 223 minutes in five appearances du ring the 2006 campaign. Briones had two goa ls against and recorded one save, one win, and one shutout. Competing for time in goal wi ll be freshman Adam Campbell and Mike Sinod is. Sinod is is a walk-on freshman from Gil bert, Ariz. Campbell, a 6-foot-4 freshman, was named Team MVP, League MVP, was named first team All-League, and first team AI I-CI F. Tommy McClain, currently recovering from an injury he sustained prior to the start of non-con– ference action, could also see time in the keeper box later in the season Coach McFadden said. The Schedu le The toreros face another grueling schedule battling against tough non-conference & West Coast Conference opponents. Six teams USO wi ll face in 2007 made it to post season action last year (Cal Berkeley, Hofstra, Brown, University of San Francisco, and Santa Clara University) includ– ing the runners up in the title match, UCLA. "It's going to be tough;' explained McFadden. "It wil l be a big test for us. But we feel we can beat anyone on the daY:' The always difficult double round rob in format calls for USO to play every wee team once at home and once on the road. The schedu le does not let up once conference action starts with Santa Clara ranked in the top ten in the nation. "We want to do better in conference;' said Mc– Fadden "It's a difficult schedule Just looking at it. We want to present ourselves well against each team but the focus is conference:' Coach McFadden went on to explain that the new system they tried out in the spring will hopefu lly help them once conference play be– gins and bring them better consistency against wee opponents.

The Coaching Staff Returning for his 29th season as head coach of the men's soccer program is Seamus McFadden. McFadden holds a 283-202-43 overal l record and a 66-50-11 West Coast Conference mark. Assist– ing him in his third year with the Toreros is Mike USD NCAA Tournament Appearances - 2003, 2002, 2001, 2000, 1999, 1998, 1995, 1994, 1993, 1992, 1990