BY KELLIE TAYLOR
Enquirer contributor
While many college students have spent the past few weeks enjoying the last fleeing moments of their summer vacation, members of the local college men's soccer teams have been enduring soccer boot camp -- more commonly known as preseason conditioning -- in preparation for next week's regular-season openers.
All three local Division I schools -- Xavier, Cincinnati and Miami -- return key starters and conference honorees from last year's teams.
Coach Jack Hermans' Musketeers welcome back their entire offense from last year's 10-10-1 (8-3 Atlantic 10) team, including leading scorer and 1997 A-10 Rookie of the Year Koen Kuiken. Kuiken, a six-foot-two junior from the Netherlands, recorded 10 goals and five assists for 25 points in 16 games last season.
Also returning on Xavier's attack is senior forward Chas Cooke (Summit Country Day), who tallied 11 goals and two assists in 1997, and two-time first-team All-Atlantic 10 selection Maringo Vlijter. Vlijter, a 6-6 junior from the Netherlands, is joined in the Musketeers' midfield by fellow returnees Dave Spacarelli, a 5-6 junior co-captain from Sycamore, and Josh Hammerschmidt, last year's team assists leader with seven.
"Our attack this year will be even better than it has been in the past," Spacarelli said. "The key is to play for possession and do a good job of working the ball around."
While Xavier's offense is familiar, its defense is little more mysterious. Several defenders from last year's squad have graduated, including current Cincinnati Riverhawks Mike Crosby and Chris Stamper.
"Those were guys who played all along, never missing a beat," said Hermans, who is in his eighth season coaching XU. "We are a young team but we have experience. It's nice to have people come in and step in right away."
Hermans is refering to a corps of players competing for the defender positions, including junior Brian DiBattista (La Salle), who played in 18 games last season. Hermans may also look to freshmen Jeff Neltner (Scott), Dan Limburg and Rob Bakker (the Netherlands). "We've got some good freshman coming in," Cooke, a fourth-year starter, said. "We lost a lot of our defense, but these guys that have come in will step it up. We'll have confidence in our defense." The Musketeers' return junior goalkeeper Paul Wesseling, who had a 1.95 goals-against average last season in 20 matches. "We have a nice blend of newcomers with the old squad," Hermans said. "They all have great attitudes."
Overall, Hermans is confident in his team, which was picked to finish third in the conference preseason poll.
"I have a very positive outlook on the team," he said. "Locally, every team is improving in soccer. You can see some great soccer played on the college level in this city."
One team Hermans is refering to is Cincinnati, where third-year head coach Jeff Cook has been successful in leading the Bearcats from the Conference USA cellar to contenders.
Cook's team opened the 1997 with just one loss in ten games, but faltered in the second half of the season.
"With the combination of injuries and the younger players adjusting to the length of the season, it's remarkable how well they did," Cook said. "It was those factors that led to our slide."
Cook returns nine starters from last year's 7-8-3 (2-4-2 C-USA) team, including Brad Ruzzo (Lakota), who was co-captain and MVP last season.
Three members of the C-USA freshman team are back with a season of experience: co-captain Andrew Kean, a 6-3 defender; Myron Vaughn, a 5-10 forward, and Issiah Davis, a 5-9 midfielder.
Also returning is 5-9 sophomore Jamal Frazier, who led the Bearcats in scoring last season with five goals. Frazier will move from midfielder to defender this season.
"I feel we have great athletes," Cook said. "It's amazing to see how far the sophomore class has come with a year of college experience."
The most notable losses from last year's squad are Mike Mobley, UC's all-time saves leader (186 in 74 games), and goalkeeper Mike Mobley, a third-team all-conference selection. who recorded four shutouts en route to a 0.98 goals against average last season. Two players are battling to become Mobley's replacement in goal, with Jake Witkowski, a 6-1 junior who sat out last season after transferring from Maryland, appearing to have the early edge over freshman Mike Gallagher.
"As far as depth goes, we have the best goalkeeper situation since I've been here," Cook said. "We never had a serious contender as a backup in the past. This year, we feel pretty solid about that position."
Ruzzo, Frazier, Kean, and Robert Burlew (Withrow) are expected to anchor the Bearcat defense.
"We feel that defensively we will be strong," Cook said. "The question will be how many goals we score."
In the team's first exhibition game last Thursday, Cook's analysis proved accurate. The Bearcats held Dayton scoreless for 95 minutes and scored the game's only goal in the fifth minute of sudden-death overtime when junior midfielder Johan Cedergren knocked in a free kick.
The win was a good start for a team that Cook expects a lot from. "We must keep our own standards high," he said. "We must develop consistency and turn that into goals."
UC's second regular-season game is against Miami, a team hoping to improve on an 8-11-1 record from last season.
The team is coached by Bobby Kramig, who is also the women's coach. The RedHawks return Nate Lie, a Mid-American Conference second-team selection last season, at sweeper. The 5-9 junior captain started all 17 games last season.
Also returning in the backfield are sophomore Brad Cain and junior Steve Kiko.
Junior Nick Binge is expected to start in goal for Miami after recording 52 saves in ten games last season.
The RedHawks also return the team's top two scorers from last season: Craig Cochran and Will Bloom. Both play at either forward or midfielder.
Cochran, a 6-0 sophomore, led the team with five goals and two assists last year, but may miss some time after having ankle surgery in the offseason.
Bloom, a 5-10 sophomore, recorded four goals and two assists.
