2008 Woodie Awards
Men's Soccer bit by off-season injury bug
Eric Adelman
Issue date: 4/15/08 Section: Sports
The men's soccer team may be in the off-season, but their workload certainly doesn't show it.
Their spring schedule has included games against talented Division I schools Sacramento State, University of Alberta, UC Berkeley, UC Davis, St. Mary's and San Diego State.
The Seawolves also played against the Sacramento Knights, So Cal Soul, and Sonoma County Soul from the Professional Development League, a professional soccer league that has players that are no longer eligible for college but still want to play professional soccer.
Besides having their hands full with tough opponents from Division I and professional programs, the Seawolves also had to deal with a handful of injuries during the off-season. Despite their injury bug, the Seawolves were able to tie 2-2 in their last game of the off-season season against the Sonoma County Soul on Apr. 9.
"We were pretty banged up," said junior captain Andrew Bailey. "We were missing three to four guys. It's hard when so many things go wrong."
Bailey said that the team was so banged up in the game that they had to put their backup goalkeeper's on to the field. The Seawolves injury bug is far from a new development as the team has been experiencing injuries for virtually the entire off-season. Younger players have had to step up and fill in for the players that have gone down.
"Dealing with a depleted lineup, the young players have come in and filled in for starters roles," said junior forward Mark Wiedeman. "A lot of younger players have stepped up."
While the Seawolves injuries have lessened the team's chances of winning against many of the Division I and PDL teams that they have faced throughout this off-season, the team has come away with many positives from their experiences against them.
"Just being able to battle against top teams in the country (is a positive)," said Wiedeman. "It boosts our confidence when we play against them. It opens their eyes that we're a D-2 school and we can hold our own."
Their spring schedule has included games against talented Division I schools Sacramento State, University of Alberta, UC Berkeley, UC Davis, St. Mary's and San Diego State.
The Seawolves also played against the Sacramento Knights, So Cal Soul, and Sonoma County Soul from the Professional Development League, a professional soccer league that has players that are no longer eligible for college but still want to play professional soccer.
Besides having their hands full with tough opponents from Division I and professional programs, the Seawolves also had to deal with a handful of injuries during the off-season. Despite their injury bug, the Seawolves were able to tie 2-2 in their last game of the off-season season against the Sonoma County Soul on Apr. 9.
"We were pretty banged up," said junior captain Andrew Bailey. "We were missing three to four guys. It's hard when so many things go wrong."
Bailey said that the team was so banged up in the game that they had to put their backup goalkeeper's on to the field. The Seawolves injury bug is far from a new development as the team has been experiencing injuries for virtually the entire off-season. Younger players have had to step up and fill in for the players that have gone down.
"Dealing with a depleted lineup, the young players have come in and filled in for starters roles," said junior forward Mark Wiedeman. "A lot of younger players have stepped up."
While the Seawolves injuries have lessened the team's chances of winning against many of the Division I and PDL teams that they have faced throughout this off-season, the team has come away with many positives from their experiences against them.
"Just being able to battle against top teams in the country (is a positive)," said Wiedeman. "It boosts our confidence when we play against them. It opens their eyes that we're a D-2 school and we can hold our own."
Viewing Comments 1 - 1 of 1
Chris
posted 7/13/08 @ 5:21 PM PST
Corrections: There is no Professional Developmental League and there is no team called the "So Cal Soul." The Sonoma County Sol are a team in the National Premier Soccer League, and have just won the Northwest Conference in the NPSL. (Continued…)
Post a Comment