Aug. 6, 2008
Olympic Sports Pass Season Ticket Information
New Mexico edged Denver for the top spot in the 2008 Mountain Pacific Sports Federation preseason men’s soccer coaches’ poll with 24 points, and four first-place votes. The Lobos have won the last four MPSF Championships and have advanced to the NCAA Tournament in six of the last seven years. It is the six year in a row New Mexico has been the coaches pick to win the league in the preseason.
Returning is 2007 conference player of the year and scoring leader Chris Wright (12 goals/four assists), in addition to a pair of first-team defenders in Zach Tierney and Simon Ejdemyr. Last year’s MPSF runner-up, Denver, is once again picked for second, collecting 22 points with a pair of first-place votes. The Pioneers return a handful of All-MPSF players from a year ago. In a third-place tie, San Jose State and UNLV totaled 15 points each. The Rebels tied for fifth last year, meaning they are picked to be the most improved team according to the projected two-spot leap. Sacramento State and Air Force rounded out the poll, with eight and six points respectively. The 2008 season officially begins the weekend of Friday, August 29 for every MPSF team.
2008 MPSF Preseason Coaches Poll
1. New Mexico – 24 pts. (4 1st Place Votes) – 12-5-2/7-1-2 (1ST/NCAA Tournament First Round)
2. Denver – 22 pts. (2 1st Place Votes) – 10-4-4/6-1-3 (2ND)
3T. San Jose State – 15 pts. – 10-9-0/5-5-0 (3RD)
3T. UNLV – 15 pts. – 7-10-2/3-7-0 (T-5TH)
5. Sacramento State – 8 pts. – 4-13-2/3-6-1 (4TH)
6. Air Force – 6 pts. – 5-12-1/3-7-0 (T-5TH)
New Mexico (12-5-2 overall; 7-1-2 MPSF 2007)
The University of New Mexico returns eight starters to the 2008 squad and will be gunning for its fifth consecutive MPSF title. New Mexico posted a 12-5-2 mark in 2007 and advanced to the NCAA Tournament for the sixth time in the last seven years. The Lobos return MPSF Player of the Year Chris Wright. The 6-5 forward led the league in scoring with 12 goals and four assists in 2007. Also returning for UNM are 1st Team All-MPSF defenders Simon Ejdemyr and Zach Tierney. Tierney was a second-team All-Far West Region selection while Ejdemyr was on the All-Far West Region 3rd Team. The Lobos will again have one of the top recruiting classes in the nation, highlighted by NSCAA High School All-Americans Michael Green and Victor Rodriguez. Green is a high-scoring midfielder from Strongsville, Ohio, while Rodriguez is an excellent keeper from Las Cruces, N.M. UNM will also welcome two experienced Division I transfers in David Murphy (Wake Forest) and Euan Holden (UCONN). Gone are two All-MPSF selections, goalkeeper Mike Graczyk and midfielder David Gualdarama.
Denver (10-4-4 overall; 6-1-3 MPSF 2007)
The University of Denver looks for its first Mountain Pacific Sports Federation title after falling just short last season after going 10-4-4 overall and 6-1-3 in the MPSF. The Pioneers return First Team All-MPSF midfielder Joe Mathot and forward Kyle Christensen, Second Team All-MPSF defender Kris Banghart and midfielder Collin Audley, and Honorable Mention All-MPSF defender Colin Jones. DU also expects a boost from goalkeeper Joe Willis, who redshirted last season. An outstanding recruiting class includes Gatorade Texas Boys’ Soccer Player of the Year Sam Garza, who led his high school to a 56-3-3 record and back-to-back Class 5A state championships as a junior and senior; Alex DeCosta, who was ranked the No. 16 recruit in the nation by Rise Magazine; Matt Kirby, who helped lead the Houston Dynamo Academy team to the 2007 Dallas Cup Finals; Zach Paul, who captained Extreme Impact/Storm North club team to three-straight CSYSA State Cup Championships; and Jarod Stigall, who was named a Class of 2008 Player to Watch by topdrawersoccer.com. The Pioneers lost First Team All-MPSF goalkeeper Matt Bradehoft, as well as defenders Josh Fallin, Jacob Chase and Eric Vogel. Forwards Colby Pearce and Kellan Christensen have left DU for two years to complete a mission.
San Jose State (10-9-0 overall; 5-5-0 MPSF 2007)
San Jose State will be looking for a second straight above-.500 finish after a 10-9 campaign in 2007, and a first NCAA Championship appearance since 2003 during the upcoming 2008 season. With 37 goals over 19 games for a per-game average of 1.95 goals, San Jose State ranked 15th in the nation in Division I a year ago. The Spartans bring back six seniors and nine starters among 12 total letterwinners. In addition to returning 2007 co-captains Ed Brand (2 G), a central defender, and Richard Mann (1.97 GAA, 2 Sho), a goalkeeper, 19th-year head coach Gary St. Clair recently announced fourth-year senior midfielder Hiroki Akiyama (1 G) as a third captain for 2008. The remaining seniors are central defender Sam Shore (1 G, 1 A), goalkeeper Lewis Sweeney (1.38 GAA, 3 Sho) and fifth-year outside defender Gavin Wenyon (3 A). Akiyama and Brand were each second-team All-MPSF selections in 2007, with junior and leading returning scorer Nick Cukar (6 G, 2 A) picking up honorable mention. Other key returners include junior forward Colby Moore (5 G, 1 A) and the sophomore midfield duo of Efrain Burgos, Jr., (5 G, 1 A) and Ricky Dorrego (5 A). St. Clair’s Spartans will need to replace their striking tandem of Ismael Ibarra (9 G, 3 A) and Julio Gonzalez (6 A, 1 A). Nine freshmen who redshirted in 2007 will join a quartet of National Letter-of-Intent signees in Mauricio Murillo, Jr., Kyle Novak, Steven Sanchez and Oscar Yniguez, all of whom have Olympic Development Program experience.
UNLV (7-10-2 overall; 3-7-0 MPSF 2007)
The UNLV men’s soccer team returns almost every offensive threat, highlighted by fowards and 2007 All-MPSF selections Lamar Neagle (senior) and Daniel Cruz (sophomore), who was also the Newcomer of the Year and a third-team freshman all-american. In face, only one goal was scored last year by a player not returning to this year’s Rebel squad. Other key returnees include defender Andrew Friel, a second-team all-conference selection last year. One change for the Rebels look to be in the goal, as Calvin Bailey, who started the majority of the games until the end of the season, will not return. However, senior Jonathan Mummey will be eligible to play this year and is in a tight fight with Roland Swanson for the starting spot in goal. One of the top returnees will be Phoenix, Ariz., native Nicholas DeLeon, a 5-10 midfielder.
Sacramento State (4-13-2 overall; 3-6-1 MPSF 2007)
Sacramento State returns a pair of senior all-conference performers in Adam Owens and Omar Martinez to anchor their 2008 squad. Owens is a two-time first team all-Mountain Pacific Sports Federation performer, while Martinez earned second team honors in his first season in the Green and Gold in 2007. Offensively, the Hornets return their top three scorers from a season ago, led by sophomore Ernesto Carranza (3g, 3a, 9 pts), who was an honorable mention all-MPSF pick last season as a midfielder. Senior Blake Nunes (4g, 8 pts) and sophomore Fernando Cabadas (2g, 4a, 8 pts) also return at forward for head coach Michael Linenberger. Senior Ryan Kenny, who started all 18 contests he was eligible for in 2007, returns at goalkeeper after posting 74 saves during his junior campaign.
Air Force (5-12-1 overall; 3-7-0 MPSF 2007)
Despite losing his top three scorers and a three-year starting goaltender, Air Force men’s soccer coach Doug Hill has a positive outlook for the 2008 season. The Falcons return five starters, including three defenders that combined to start all but one game last year. Senior co-captain Jason Dall, junior co-captain Kevin Rosser and fellow junior Aaron Eshkenazi will headline the back line this season. They will try to keep opponents from getting too close to an untested goalie, more likely than not junior Jim Gullo, who enters the ’08 campaign with just 40 minutes of varsity action under his belt, the most of any netminder on the roster. Offensively, junior Josh Rhynard and sophomore Kyle Schafer are the top returning scorers after notching five points apiece in 2007. Add in sophomore Kyle Moses (four points), and those three, along with Dall and Rosser, are the only returning players who scored for Air Force last season. Helping with the offensive firepower will be junior Steven Noller, who did not play his sophomore season after scoring two goals and adding an assist as a freshman in 2006. Hill is very excited about his incoming recruiting class. Topping the list of 14 freshmen are Garrett Getschow (Flower Mound, Texas / Flower Mound HS) and Justin Lukso (Colorado Springs, CO / Liberty HS). Getschow set a new school record with 26 goals in one season at FMHS and led his club team to the Disney Showcase title twice. Lukso, meanwhile, led Liberty High School to a Colorado state championship his junior season and was named the NSCAA Scholar All-American in 2007.