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2007
SEASON OUTLOOK
University of St. Francis men’s soccer coach Mario Dukovac hopes his 2007 men’s soccer team is a little more offensive than the 2006 Saints. Make that a lot more offensive, and not in a rude or mean way.
“We quite simply have to score more goals this year if we want to improve as a team,” says Dukovac, whose Saints scored just a dozen goals a year ago. “I don’t have to be a statistical genius – and believe me I am not – to see that 12 goals over 17 games are not going to get it done.”
With that in mind, Dukovac looks for more production from veteran forwards Doug Diak and Ben Miller and midfielders Bryant Jacob and Nathan Cote. He also will likely move either sophomore defender Nick Linko or senior defender Phil Wicyk up front to give the Saints more of an offensive threat.
“We have the talent to make things happen offensively,” said Dukovac. “I just have to be careful that I don’t sacrifice any defense by moving Nick or Phil up front. But I have a lot of confidence in our other defenders and we should be solid back there as well.”
Diak and Jacob led the Saints last year with three goals each and Diak added an assist to lead the team in scoring with seven points. Linko played up front at times last year and added a pair of goals, while Wicyk finished the season with a goal and an assist.
Forwards
Diak, Miller, either Wicyk or Linko, Jeff Soukup and freshmen David Oropeza and Luis Escorza will spend most of the time up front for the Saints. All of them can also play midfield. Oropeza and Escorza are two freshmen that have impressed Dukovac.
“Both David and Luis should make an immediate impact on our team,” said Dukovac. “I expect to see them be among our top scorers and have outstanding freshman seasons.”
Midfielders
Jacob is the top returnee at this spot, along with Cote and sophomore Nathan Schoell. Joining them will be freshmen Mike Healy, Mubashir Olaoye and Joel Perez.
“Bryant Jacob is a key man for us,” said Dukovac. “He is one of our top playmakers and we need a big year from him if we are going to improve offensively. Nathan Cote also had a good year last season in his first year with us. Our group of forwards and midfielders have the talent to allow us to make the necessary improvements we need to make on offense.”
Defenders
Wicyk and Linko are the top returnees and one of them will anchor the defense for the Saints. Sophomore Tony Sallese had an outstanding freshman season and will be one of the Saints’ leading defenders this fall. Freshmen Jeremy Farinetti, Jordan Parcel and Adam Jones will all battle for playing time as well.
“We’ll rotate some of our midfielders back to defense to add to our group of young defenders,” said Dukovac. “Wicyk is the only upperclassmen among the defenders so it really is a young and talented group.”
Goalkeepers
The Saints have big shoes to fill in net this season after the graduation of four-year starter Ben Orris. Sophomore Alex McKanna is the only returnee and he played in just three games last year. He recorded one save in 27 minutes of playing time. Freshman Bobby Markatos – who will also play baseball at USF this spring – is the Saints’ other goalie.
The Saints hope that some improved offense will lead to more success in the rugged Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference.
“We played well enough defensively last year to win more games,” said Dukovac. “The only team that beat us badly was Judson and they’ve been known to do that to everyone in our league for a long time.
“Our goal is to move up in the league standings and qualify for the CCAC tournament. We know that we can compete with just about everybody we play, and our kids will not be satisfied until we prove that we can beat some of the better teams in our league.”
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