Men’s soccer team plans to kick through their problems

By Amanda Hickey
Staff Writer

The men's soccer team has already had their share of trials and tribulations this year during preseason. But despite their problems with the drainage on the fields and late arrivals, the team is holding their heads high and kicking past those problems and expecting the best this season.

Joe Warenda, a senior defenseman, thinks that this season will be equal to the season played last year.

“We’ve just got to come together as a team. It will take a few weeks to get there, but we will eventually,” Warenda said.

Head Coach Mike Schaeffer feels that this season is going to be a challenge. "We had a great year last year, [so] we have a lot of pressure on us to be as good or better," Schaeffer said.

"One of the challenges we have is the amount of international players we have."

The final two international players arrived on Sunday, Aug. 29. Preseason began Aug. 13, but some players have been taking longer to arrive due to problems with their Visas.

This season there are 29 players, 13 of which are returning. The team includes eight students from Germany, one from Mexico, one from England, one from Scotland, one from Guatemala and two from Norway. Since the international players leave in December, players get used to the organization of plays and then reorganize in order to compensate for the players that have left.

There is also the issue of a language barrier. Some of the international player's English is not as strong as the players from last year, making communication an additional hurdle.

"We're already seeing some communication problems," said Schaeffer.

Aside from those problems, Schaeffer and his men are looking forward to all the games they are going to play this season.

"Our entire conference is a challenge. The Peach Belt is full of good teams."

One of the most anticipated games for UNCP is the game versus University of South Carolina Upstate, otherwise known as the Spartanburg Spartans.

“They’re going to be the hardest team we will play all year and we have that story to look back on from last year, them beating us twice in the Peach Belt tournament finals,” Warenda said of the Spartans.

For freshman defenseman Andrew Brown, there is only one thing he would like to see this season. "I think we'll do better this year than we did last year, [we're] looking to go all the way," said Brown.

Brown, from South Mecklenburg High School in Charlotte, NC came to Pembroke because he believes "it's a good program, [with] good coaching, and good players.

In preparation for games, the team practices two hours a day Monday through Friday. A normal practice involves many things. The coaches believe that no matter how good a player is, keeping the fundamentals sharp is an important part of the game. If they notice something in a game that is not working as well as they expect it to, they dedicate a practice to fixing it.

"We generally come out and play a little bit of keep away to get the heart going, then they do a little stretching. We typically try to do some fundamental skill work," said Schaeffer.

Players and coaches want UNCP students to come out and support the team more this season. Schaeffer says students should come out because the team and coaching staff feed off the energy in the crowd and they enjoy the support.

Men’s soccer games are usually on Saturdays, leaving Sundays as a day of rest for the players.

"Soccer games are exciting, it's a good way to support your team, and we're a winning team," said Brown.

UNCP students will have their first chance to support their Braves in their first home game on Sept. 15. The male Braves will take on Coker College at 7 p.m. on the soccer field.