 |  |
Men's Soccer looks to erase any doubt during 2011 season
By Matt Green
ROME – The Shorter University men’s soccer program still has something to prove.
A regular season Southern States Athletic Conference championship in 2008 followed by two straight seasons of double-digit wins and trips to the SSAC Tournament semifinals should have caught the attention of one of the nation’s top men’s soccer conferences.
But despite their rise to the upper echelon of the SSAC over the past three seasons, a run that has resulted in a 15-5-2 record within the league, the Hawks found themselves picked to finish sixth in the conference’s preseason coaches poll that was released last week.
Head coach Josh Severns hopes that preseason ranking motivates his bunch as Shorter opens the much-anticipated 2011 season on Saturday on the road at Montreat College (N.C.) at 5 pm.
“Last time we were ranked low in the preseason, we ended up as regular season champs,” said Severns, who enters his seventh season as head coach of the Hawks. “Maybe this is a good sign, but it also shows how competitive our conference is. There are so many conference games this season that this year’s championship is truly up for grabs.
“All of the teams ahead of us [in the rankings] have tremendous programs and a history of competing at the highest level.”
Shorter enters the 2011 campaign minus the services of four All-Conference performers, but returns arguably the most important of its five 2010 All-League selections in senior striker Garry Perks.
Perks already ranks third on Shorter’s all-time scoring list with 18 career tallies and came into his own in his second year with the Hawks in 2010 to the tune of a career-high 12 strikes to go along with three assists.
The Scot tied a school record with four goals in a win over Truett-McConnell and scored twice in Shorter’s win over William Carey – a team picked to finish ahead of the Hawks in 2011 – in last year’s SSAC Tournament quarterfinals.
“As a senior and a captain we expect Garry to be more of a unifier of the team,” Severns said. “It is more of an added role because not only does he have to try and score, but also lead the team to success by helping teammates score and being a positive communicator, all of which he is capable of doing.”
Perks played as a lone striker for much of 2010, but will have plenty of help this year in Shorter’s formation with new running mate Irvin Espinal. Espinal, a freshman, is an explosive scorer with great speed that Severns believes could challenge Robert Whitnell’s career scoring record of 60 goals when its all said and done.
“Irvin has a lot of potential,” said Severns. “He is one of the more versatile attackers that we have had which is very exciting. Garry should be on the end of a lot of Irvin’s passes and Irvin should be on the end of some of Garry’s.”
Shorter’s reputation over the last several seasons is of a team that is strong in the midfield and rugged on the back line and this year’s Hawks fit the mold.
Sophomore Julian Kitkowski will anchor the Shorter defense as one of two central defenders and sophomores Felix Jaekel and Kyle Stonecipher return to the midfield where they started the majority of the season as freshmen in 2010.
From there, Severns and his assistant coaches – former Shorter standouts Mark Beattie and Kyle Timberlake – have a number of gifted options to fill out the midfield and defensive ranks.
Preseason competition has been fierce and Severns is confident that he possesses one of the deepest rosters the program has ever seen.
That depth could come in handy as 11 newcomers learn to handle the rigors and physical demands of collegiate soccer while the entire Shorter side goes about proving the naysayers wrong for a fourth straight season.
“One of the keys this season will be maintaining the same focus we had during the preseason – taking everything one practice at a time and not looking too far ahead,” said Severns. “This group has done that well and shown a great willingness to work.
“Everything has been extremely positive.”
