The summer of 2014 saw many changes for Pacific University, including the addition of head men’s soccer coach Eric Mild, who replaced Jim Brazeau.
The 2013 season ended with a record of 7-12. While it is still early to predict the season, the 2014 season has brought a bag of mixed results, with two wins and two losses.
One of their wins, however, was a monumentous 9-0 shutout against Multnomah college.
While in past seasons the team had given up a lot of goals, Mild has put a strong focus on the defensive side of the game and has made the teams game of play more possession-orientated.
“There’s an old saying, ‘defense wins championships’, so we believe in that, but we definitely like to play attractive soccer, and we’ve been doing a good job of that lately,” Mild said.
Among the new players to keep an eye out for are freshman midfielder Matt Kimball and freshman goalkeeper Leyton Tommansen, who recently was named the Northwest Conference Soccer Defensive Student Athlete of the Week.
Along with a strong incoming roster, the team has several strong returning players for the 2014 season, including senior Defensive Garrick Knowles and senior midfielder Mark Watson, who transferred back to Pacific after a year at another university and holds junior eligibility for play.
“We have quickly integrated the numerous new players into the program, and we seem to be improving with each and every day,” Mild said. “They’re all hard working, and open minded.”
The team will be facing off against Warner Pacific University tonight at 4 p.m. at home.
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