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2016 WVU Men’s Soccer Season Preview
August 24, 2016 06:46 PM | Men's Soccer
The West Virginia University men’s soccer team is hungry.
Hungry to improve upon a 7-12 season a year ago. Hungry to get back to its winning ways and be on the right side of the win-loss column.
It’s a team with a unique mix of 15 returning players, many who were major contributors last season, and 14 newcomers.
As coach Marlon LeBlanc begins his 11th season at the helm, he is looking forward to seeing the continued development of the 15 veterans, and is equally excited for what the newcomers bring to Morgantown.
“We had such a big senior class last year, but what we’re returning is a lot of players who contributed quite a few minutes. Yes, we’re going to be young this year, but all those returners were major players on our team last year, so the cabinet is not empty.
“We have a hungry group that was disappointed with the results we had last year. This group understands that we didn’t play poorly last year. Our record wasn’t indicative of the type of team we were. We had some massive errors in big games that cost us results. You can end up on the right side or the wrong side, and last year we ended up on the wrong side too often. Because of that, this is a hungry group that is certainly very inspired heading into the season.”
The returning players are headlined by junior Joey Piatczyc, who finished No. 2 in the country last year with a school-record 13 assists; senior Jack Elliott, who was an Academic All-American a year ago; and sophomore Tucker Stephenson, who had a breakout freshman campaign. That list also includes seniors Felix Angerer, Mike Desiderio and Christian Diaz and junior Louis Thomas, who played key minutes last year.
Forwards
While West Virginia is tasked with replacing its top two goal scorers from a year ago in Jamie Merriam and Ryan Cain, WVU had a productive spring scoring goals.
LeBlanc and the Mountaineers have options to replace the departing duo, who accounted for 13 of WVU’s 32 goals in 2015.
“Up front, we have to replace Jamie Merriam and Ryan Cain,” LeBlanc said. “They provided quite a bit of offense for us. This spring though, we scored quite a few goals, and that often came through Felix Angerer. He had a wonderful spring season after trying to get himself acclimated in the fall. I certainly think we have found a target center-forward who can score goals at this level and score quite a few of them. We’re very excited about Felix up there.”
Angerer, a senior from Bayreuth, Germany, scored two goals and added a pair of assists in 15 matches last year. He’ll be joined by sophomore Rushawn Larmond, who found the back of the net three times in 12 matches in 2015.
“Rushawn Larmond returns for his sophomore year after scoring a few times as a freshman,” LeBlanc added. “He missed quite a bit of the spring, but he’s back at full strength and will be another player, along with Felix, who gives us the option to play as a single forward or as a pair. Rushawn provides a great amount of speed up front and is clinical in front of the goal.
“Those two are the leading returning candidates, and with a few young guys coming in, we certainly thing we have some ability to score goals. Scoring hasn’t been our problem. We’ve been a pretty high goal-scoring team the past few years. We anticipate we have enough attacking weapons to do the same this year.”
Angerer and Larmond could be joined up front by juniors Jad Arslan and Heath Honold and freshman Kyle Davis.
Midfielders
The midfield is headlined by Piatczyc. The Lee’s Summit, Missouri, native has his name plastered throughout the record books after posting a WVU-record 13 assists as a sophomore.
Piatczyc’s total ranked No. 2 in the country and was highlighted by a school-record, four-assist match against San Francisco on Aug. 30. He had two multi-assist matches, and six of his 13 assists resulted in game-winning goals, also a school record. His 17 points were best on the team.
Piatczyc is one of 14 midfielders on the roster, nine of them returners.
“Most of the midfield is back, and that’s the crux, including the top play-maker in the country last year in Joey Piatczyc,” LeBlanc said. “He’s the guy who’s the provider and makes things tick for us in the attack. We’ll lean on our captain to do the damage from midfield again there.”
Another key returner is sophomore Tucker Stephenson, who played in all 19 matches and registered two goals and three assists as a freshman to tie for fourth on the team with seven points.
“Tucker Stephenson is back in the midfield after playing quite a few minutes as a freshman last year,” LeBlanc said. “Jad Arslan returns for his junior year, Heath Honold is back. Mike Desiderio and Christian Diaz are seniors. We’ve got some very good players coming back, and we think that bodes well for us in terms of experience in our system and how we want to play.”
Arslan played in 17 contests and had two goals and two assists as a sophomore, while Honold played in 14 matches with three assists, also as a sophomore. Desiderio, who had two goals and three assists, and Diaz, with one assist, return for their final seasons in the Gold and Blue.
The newcomers feature Antonio Bachmann, Lucca Barbaris, Ben Boone, Jake Coale and Ethan Shim.
“Again, I think we’ve added some very nice pieces into that midfield who are going to make it very difficult to zero in on any one player,” LeBlanc said. “Going forward, we can score goals and attack in numbers. We anticipate that midfield and front line will be able to do the same in 2016.”
Defenders
Senior Jack Elliott and junior Louis Thomas anchor the defensive core for the Mountaineers in 2016. They are two of 11 defenders on the team, along with fellow returners and seniors Griffin Libhart and Trevor Moon, and Zion Gray.
“The defending is something that statistically, we were pretty good at last year, limiting shots and shots on goal,” LeBlanc said. “The problem is we conceded far too many goals. We look at that as a team-wide thing. We expect our midfielders to help our defenders even more, and we need our defenders to shut down our opponents and limit shots even more than we did last year.
“Louis Thomas is back in the back four. Jack Elliott is back. We brought in a great addition in Albert Llop from Vila-Real, Spain, who spent the entire spring semester with us, so he has that under his belt already. He’s joined by one of the top Division II players, an All-American in Steven James, who led Louisburg College to the Division II national championship.
“Our young players also include Ryan Kellogg, who was Sporting KC’s Young Player of the Year, Logan Lucas, who was on that same Sporting KC team and Zion Gray, who had a fantastic spring in the back. We’ve got some very good, seasoned players. Trevor Moon will be a senior who’s got some experience. We like the makeup of our back four. We like the options that we have to shuffle things around there.”
Goalkeepers
Three players are fighting for the starting goalkeeper position, two after redshirting in their first year at WVU in 2015 and one newcomer. The returners are redshirt junior Stephen Banick and redshirt freshman Konrad Dziedzic, while junior Jose Santos comes to WVU after transferring from Tyler Community College.
Santos was the starting goalkeeper on Tyler’s team last year that advanced to the NJCAA finals.
“The goalkeeping, we’ve had some hiccups there the last couple of seasons,” LeBlanc said. “We have three new guys battling for time in there this season. Two of those players redshirted last season, Stephen Banick and Konrad Dziedzic. They’re back and vying for the No. 1 spot, along with freshman Jose Santos. We’re looking forward to that competition for those three to really battle it out for the No. 1 shirt. If we can do a good job in the goal, the sky’s the limit for that group, and this team.”
Schedule Breakdown
The Mountaineers annually have one of the toughest schedules in the country, and this season’s 16-match slate proves to be no different.
WVU will face four teams that made the NCAA Tournament last season, with all four advancing to the NCAA Tournament Third Round or later.
Four of WVU’s 2016 opponents are ranked in the NSCAA preseason poll, all in the top 15. The matches against ranked foes begin with the season-opening weekend against No. 14 Seattle and No. 10 Georgetown, in Akron, Ohio. At home, the Mountaineers will play No. 2 Akron and No. 4 Maryland.
“We’ve certainly been known year in and year out to play one of the best non-conference schedules in the country, and this is no different than any other year,” LeBlanc said. “Our players came here to play in big games and big moments. We could schedule differently, but at the end of the day, these kids want to play in big matches. Having Georgetown on the schedule, having Maryland come to Morgantown as a national champion contender, those are big ones. Our game is littered with top-level opponents and we’re certainly looking forward to the challenge that that’s going to bring.”
A total of nine regular-season matches will be played at home, accounting for nearly 60 percent of WVU’s matches. The home slate features five- and four-match homestands.
“We have a string of a number of games that are going to be here in Morgantown,” LeBlanc said. “Over the last decade, we’ve elevated the program in the community and in our campus as being one of the teams that our fans love to come out and watch. We draw big crowds, and we have fantastic support from the Mountaineer Maniacs and the community. For me, it’s been a wonderful evolution to see how much soccer has grown in West Virginia and how much support our kids get. Without a doubt, Dick Dlesk Soccer Stadium is one of the toughest places to come in and get a result, and we’re glad that we get to have that advantage here at home.”
The complete 2016 WVU men’ soccer schedule can be found here.
Ticket Information
WVU Soccer Scarf ticket packages are now on sale and includes the official 2016 WVU Soccer fan scarf and 10 tickets to be used at any men’s or women’s home matches during the regular season. Packages are just $30 and are available while supplies last. To order, visit WVUGAME.com or call 1-800-WVU GAME. More information is available on WVUSports.com.
Additionally, single-game tickets for all nine regular-season home matches are now on sale at WVUGAME.com or by calling 1-800-WVU-GAME.
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