2007 Men's Soccer Season Preview

TREVECCA NAZARENE UNIVERSITY
Men's Soccer
2007-2008 Season Preview

Trevecca head men's soccer coach Jeff Carr made a decision to modify the make-up of the team's schedule for the 2007-2008 season after the team's show of promise last season.

"We are only playing 15 games in the fall this year, and we only play back-to-back days once," said Carr. "Last year, we played at least two games a week, and sometimes three. That kind of schedule takes a toll on the players, and it caught up with us last year."

Despite having the nucleus of a TranSouth Tournament team return from 2005-2006, the 2006-2007 team struggled with injuries after a promising start to the season. That core is back again this year and with some gifted additions to the team. Coach Carr calls the 2007-2008 team, "the most talented one--top-to-bottom" that he has had at Trevecca.

Among the returning talent are six prospective starters for the Trojans. Calvin da Cunha and Paul Butchard return to the Trojans' defense corps for the third consecutive year, while offensively, the Trojans return Mark Foster, Andy McGovern, and Alex Lorenz-all of whom had hat tricks for the Trojans a year ago.

Josh Forth returns to the midfield for the Trojans after having seen considerable minutes for the Trojans a year ago as well. Also returning to the field for Trevecca are Shane Cline and Aaron Denton in the team's goalkeeping trio-Maky Said, Gin Mung, and Jorge Hellu in the midfield-and Coulton Main, Parker Hughes, Randy Heinze, Caylan Goodman, and Stephen Adams on defense.

The Trojans brought in a talented class of newcomers as well, highlighted by transfer student-athletes Gift Ndam and Philip Walker. Ndam is no stranger to the Trojans, playing against Trevecca a year ago as a member of the Fisk University Bulldogs.  Walker comes to Trevecca from Francis Marion University.

The Trojans also bring in a superb freshman class. James Lambley comes to Trevecca from England, where he trained as a goalkeeper with the U16 national team. Alex Hodge, at 6'3", brings an element of size to the Trojan defense that it has not had in recent years, and Luke Johnson was the leading goal scorer at Station Camp High School in Hendersonville, Tennessee, for the last two years.

The team will begin the season with a retreat to Charlotte, North Carolina to train with the Charlotte Eagles, the only all-Christian professional team in the United States. "I hope this time of spiritual emphasis will build our character on and off the field," said Carr. "It should serve as a means to bring us closer together as a team."

This year's edition of the Trojans, much like last year, is a multi-national effort with 11 countries represented on the 2007-2008 team. Carr is optimistic about his team's chances. "We are a little quicker at every position," he said, also adding "and we believe we'll be in the post-season picture this year."