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Bowling Green State University Athletics
Men's Soccer Falcons Busy This Summer
August 09, 2007 | Men's Soccer
Aug. 9, 2007
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio (BGSUFalcons.com) - The Bowling Green State University men's soccer team is preparing for the 2007 season. The men's soccer Falcons will play the first game of any Falcon squad in 2007-08, an Aug. 19 exhibition at Cleveland State.
From time to time throughout the season, members of the program will contribute to the BGSU men's soccer blog. The first installment comes from goalkeeper Brent Petkus, who catches us up on some of the comings and goings of his teammates this summer ...
The summer has flown by and most of our team has been staying busy. As you may have heard, we have a new face in the Men's Soccer family. Ken White has taken over assistant coaching duties of Tony Economopoulos who took a job closer to his hometown. Coach White is an excellent fit for the program and will help us achieve greatness on and off the field.
Seniors Alec and Ryan Perea are coming back to us in the fall after a semester in Australia. They attended classes at Griffith University which is located in the area around Brisbane in Eastern Australia. Sophomore Jacob Lawrence has been keeping busy in the summer by playing in the Premier Development League for the Mississippi Brilla. Jacob appeared in 12 matches accumulating 937 minutes and tabulating 2 assists in his summer campaign. Mississippi ended with a record of 6-5-5, which was good enough for 4th in the PDL Mid-South Division. Jacob and the Brilla played in front of an average crowd of 1,000 fans.
Sophomore Hunter Van Houten and his Chicago Magic club team reached the U.S. Youth Soccer National Championship game for the third straight year. The tournament took place in Dallas, Texas, at Pizza Hut Park. On their way to the final they defeated San Jose/San Juan Ruckus, CASA Mia's Bays, and tied Dallas Texans 88. They met the Dallas Texans again in the final losing a heartbreaker, 1-0.
Senior Abiola Sandy, junior Kyle McNayr, and sophomore Tyler Deal spent the summer in Bowling Green working out with the strength and conditioning team in the beautiful weight room in the new Sebo Athletic Center.
My summer was busy as well. First, the high school team I coached in the spring was District Champions and I was coach of the year in the district. The girls did a great job all season and made me nervous in the District final when they won in double overtime. The highlight of my summer was being nominated by Bowling Green State University Athletic Department and NCAA to represent the Falcons at the 2007 NCAA Leadership Conference at the Walt Disney World Resort. One person from each Division I, II, and III institution represented their school at the conference. The NCAA Leadership Conference is the largest meeting of student-athletes that is not a competition. I spent five days learning different leadership techniques with over 400 student-athletes. The whole conference was a life-changing experience, I know more about myself, and the part I can play in helping this program return to greatness.
Preseason is upon us and it is great to see all the faces again. We have a lot of work ahead of us in the next three months and I am glad I can share all the events of the journey ahead.
- Senior Brent Petkus
Coming Soon: Exhibition Matches/Preseason Review
