Bowling Green State University Athletics
Falcon Men's Soccer 2004 Preview
August 31, 2004 | Men's Soccer
Aug. 31, 2004
Bowling Green, Ohio - The 2004 edition of the Bowling Green men's soccer team will be headed by first-year head coach Fred Thompson and 11 upperclassmen. Last year the Falcons advanced to the Mid-American Conference Tournament Championship for the third time in four years. However, the nucleus of that team, including four-year goalie David DeGraff, is gone. That will make repeating as MAC tournament finalists this season a large chore. But with a renewed energy in the Falcon soccer program and nearly half of the squad consisting of juniors or seniors, this year's team will be exciting to watch. According to Thompson, it all begins with the Falcons themselves. "Our biggest competition will be BG," said Thompson. "We are going to have to work out the most effective way to quickly reach our potential. I'm not worried about other teams. Our focus is on continually improving in everything that we do; players and coaches. I want us to walk off the field after every game knowing that we did everything that we could do. Eventually, that will lead to consistency and from there success." Seniors P.J. Behan and Deryck Freudeman will lead the upperclassmen along with eight juniors. Behan registered two goals and two assists last season. Junior Omari Aldridge was second on the team with nine points and four goals. Juniors Paul Seip (2g, 3a), Cory Stevens (2g), and Adrian Akpan (1g) will be looked upon to increase their offensive production. "Someone who didn't quite do it before may lift their game and do it this year," said Thompson. "It would be great if our upperclassman end up being our key players. After a rather unsettled Spring we are going to need some stability I am hoping that our upperclassmen will end up being the leaders that give us a stabilizing force." Competing for the job at goalie are redshirt-sophomore Brandon Decker, redshirt-freshman Michael Rutkowski, transfer Tyler Dollins and freshman Brent Petkus. Decker made his collegiate debut last season, making three saves in a 4-1 loss to an Akron team that was ranked 23rd in the nation. Ten freshmen and three sophomores make up the younger half of the 2004 squad. How well the underclassmen gel with the upperclassmen will be a large part of how far the Falcons can go this season. "Soccer is about being organized, both offensively and defensively; we will take care of that during training," said Thompson. "I will help them with their decision-making. They will solve the problems during the game. I don't want to commit to a certain style of play. I want the players to do what the game demands. I can't guarantee any victories. All I can say is that by the end of the season we will be much better than we were at the beginning." Last season the Falcons went head-to-head with seven teams that advanced to the NCAA Tournament. This year BGSU will play against six teams that saw postseason action in 2003. As usual, though, how the Falcons end the season will be more important than how they start it. BGSU has been 5-4-0 the last four seasons in the MAC Tournament, reaching the championship game three of those seasons. "Our competition is very good, I am excited about the schedule," said Thompson. "I always want to play the best teams possible. We have six NCAA tournament teams this year and of course the conference games are going to be intense. It is going to be a lot of fun." Also new this season is Kelme, a company that will be sponsoring the four-team tournament at Mickey Cochrane Stadium Sept. 4-5. Visiting Bowling Green will be IUPUI, St. Bonaventure, and Loyola-Chicago. "It is a great company, a name soccer people know but others may not. They have been very helpful to our program and we are thrilled to be in this partnership." Off the field, Thompson wants his team to succeed as well. "Academically, we would like to win the NSCAA Team Academic Award fro maintaining a team GPA of 3.0. These guys need to graduate with the best grades possible. This will always be a focus for this program. Right now all the players we are recruited have at least a 3.0." Seven of BGSU's 10 home games will take place in September, including the regular-season opener on Sept. 1 versus Michigan State. The Falcons will travel to non-conference opponents Cincinnati, Detroit-Mercy, Michigan, Ohio State, and Oakland. In the MAC, BGSU entertains Marshall, Akron and Buffalo while traveling to Kentucky, Northern Illinois, and Western Michigan. Kentucky was tabbed to win the seven-team MAC Championship, with BGSU picked sixth, by league coaches in the annual preseason poll.
