TicketsBearcats Open Defense of C-USA Crown
Contact: Jeremy Martin
8/31/2004
Preseason All-Conference USA forward Wiremu Patrick |
The University of Cincinnati Men?s Soccer team will open its regular seasonWednesday, Sept. 1 at 7 p.m. at Rapid Run Middle School against the IUPUI Jaguars.
ABOUT THE BEARCATS: The Cincinnati Bearcats head into the season opener following a 3-0 win against Wright State at the Xavier Soccer Complex on August 25. Junior MF/F Jeff Hughes scored all three goals for the Bearcats.
The Bearcats are coming off a 2003 season which saw UC claim just its second ever regular season conference crown with a 6-2-1 C-USA record. The Bearcats finished 10-4-6 overall. Gone are seven starters and nine letterwinners from last year?s C-USA champions and along with them went 64% of the scoring.
Head coach Hylton Dayes (Wright State, ?88) enters his fourth season at UC with a record of 28-20-12. Following the Bearcats? championship season in 2003, Dayes was awarded C-USA Coach of the Year honors.
SCOUTING THE JAGUARS: The IUPUI Jaguars travel to Cincinnati following a 3-0 exhibition victory against Marian College on August 25. The Jaguars earlier defeated Michigan State, 2-1, at the IPFW Soccer Showcase in Ft. Wayne, Indiana on August 22.
IUPUI returns nine starters and 20 letterwinners from a 2003 team that went 2-14-3. The Jaguars finished fifth in the Mid-Continent Conference with a record of 1-3-2.
Leading scorer senior D/F Mike Sullivan returns after netting four goals for eight points last season. The Jaguars also return sophomore MF Adrian Conrad who scored three goals and added an assist in 2003.
Head coach Steve Franklin (Northland, ?81) begins his tenth year with IUPUI. He has ammassed a record of 75-86-11.
WHO WILL SCORE?: With the losses of Josh Gardner, Tim Brown and Justin Lewis, who accounted for 18 goals last season, UC will be looking for scoring punch from senior F Wiremu Patrick, junior F Jarrett Devereaux, and senior M John Liersemann. Patrick is the leading returning scorer, having scored four goals while adding three assists last season for 11 points. Liersemann was the only underclassman to start all 20 matches, scoring two goals and adding three assists. Devereaux scored one goal and assisted on another in 2003.
NEW FACES TURNING HEADS: Junior transfer M/F Jeff Hughes and sophomore GK Mike Vessells have quckly caught the attention of their teammates.
Hughes, a transfer from Western Michigan, recorded a hat trick in UC?s 3-0 victory against Wright State. Hughes was named to the All-Mid-American Conference first team and led the conference with 16 goals and 36 points in 2003.
Vessells played in only four games last season and accounted for 10.4% of the total goalkeeping minutes. In two exhibition games thus far, Vessells has posted 115:57 shutout minutes between the pipes.
OPENING GETTLER: The Men?s soccer team will play host to Bradley University on September 16 in the first men?s match to be held at Gettler Stadium. The stadium, part of the Richard E. Lindner Varsity Village, features an official size soccer field with FieldTurf Pro playing surface, permanent grandstands with seating for 1,400 patrons, concession stands and restrooms, a pressbox, scoreboard with message center, and lights. Varsity Village addresses the needs to attract quality student-athletes to all of Cincinnati?s sports programs and provide an environment in which they can succeed academically, athletically, and physically.
C-USA POLL: The Bearcats have been picked to finish fifth in a preseason poll of Conference USA?s coaches. Perennial power Saint Louis was tabbed as the top team in the conference, while UC, UAB, USF, and Charlotte look to wrestle the title away from the Billikens.
UP NEXT: UC travels to the Nike Soccer Classic in St. Louis, Mo. September 10-12 for matches with Virginia and SMU.