Megan Zerrer
Sports Editor
The men’s soccer team is looking to start off their season with their best foot forward after some rigorous preseason training – both physically and mentally. The Fighting Scots have adopted head coach Andy Zidron’s foundations for a family-oriented, hard-working team that has helped build a strong community of players both on and off the turf.
The team will be relying on midfield players like Kieffer Hessler ’17 and Marco Sapien ’17 to lead the team this year. Hessler and Sapien both had strong, complementary seasons in 2015 and are looking to continue that trend in the upcoming season. Alex Montalbano ’19 and Austin Russell ’19 are aiming not only to enhance the senior talent on the team, but to contribute individually as well. Russell in particular had an explosive season last year, scoring a team high of five goals while en route to an all-conference freshman campaign.
As they head toward the conference schedule, the team will be facing some tough opponents. The Scots will face off against three teams that are currently ranked in the top 25 of the current NCAA poll back to back to back. While this presents a unique challenge for the team, Matt Kelly ’17 seems confident that this year’s team will be able to fight back against more challenging opponents. “I am really looking forward to this team coming together and finding a lot of success,” Kelly commented. The men will kick off their season in Lexington, Ky. A string of away games will follow and the Scots will not be returning home for a game until September 17 for their match against Earlham College.