By Amrit Brown //
Men’s soccer has new expectations under a new head coach after a 3-15-1 record last year.
The squad is now coached by Geoff Moore, who while expressing his desire to win more games, also emphasized the importance of building continuity within the team and refining their process during the season.
“Our expectation is to continue to grow and learn from where we were a year ago,” Moore said.
Continuity is apparent on the Blazers’ roster. The team brought back nine out of the 11 players who contributed a goal or assist last year. The squad also welcomes back starting goalkeeper Nick Humphries.
Moore, who is a former Mountain Valley Conference Coach of the Year, also highlighted his goals for the team to play quicker and anticipate on the field. “When we are thinking about what we are supposed to do we play slow,” he said.
The team, which boasts six seniors, is captained by juniors Jackson Quenzer and Cam Simpler and sophomore Austin Heffner. “Those guys have been brilliant since they got here,” Moore said about his captains.
Moore said that the captains do a great job projecting what the coaching staff wants onto the team. “[They] are sort of my voice on the field, at training and off the field so they are invaluable to us,” he added.
The coaching staff brought in 11 freshmen this year, a number on par with many past recruiting classes.
“We are pleasantly surprised with the freshmen,” Moore said. “You know they really did a great job with coming in fit and ready to play,” he added.
Moore anticipates that three or four will factor into the lineup moving forward.
The season began on Aug. 30 against Goucher College, and conference play starts against Stevenson University on Oct. 5. The Blazers finished 1-5-1 in conference last year, their only win being a 1-0 victory over Eastern University.
Moore highlighted the importance of fan attendance for home games, citing it as a motivating factor for the team.
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