The men’s soccer team is set to begin their new season in less than a week but this season they are under new leadership. The Falcons, who finished second in the MAC championships last season, are under the direction of newly appointed coach Fred Thompson. The signing of Thompson marked only the fourth time in the forty-year history of the program to hire a new coach.
Thompson’s resume seems more than adequate for runing the team, which will undoubtedly be looking to get back to the top of the MAC. Prior to signing with the Falcons he was the assistant coach at the University of Evansville and was also head coach of Bellevue Community College. Before getting into coaching Thompson played professionally in the MLS and started for the Jamaican International team in 1988-1990.
Despite the impressive credentials Thompson knows that this season is not going to be easy for him or his team. Due to the late hiring Thompson and the Falcons have had little time to work together and Thompson realizes it could be a difficult season. Despite the fact that players and coaches are still getting to know each other they are still optimistic about the future.
“The boys are very excited and very gung-ho about the season. They’re working very hard, they’re very committed and I think we’re going to be competitive,” said the new coach. “I do think it’s going to take us a little while to find our stride but our hopes is to be competitive in the conference.”
Time, however, is one thing the Falcons don’t have much of. With two exhibition games under their belts, the Falcons are set to match up against the Michigan State Spartans on September 1 for their season opener. The early part of the Falcons schedule also consists of the first six games in 12 day followed by an away match at, Big 10 Conference powerhouse, Michigan.
Thompson likes the challenging scheduled but is not making any promises to his team. “I told the players I can’t guarantee one victory and I can’t guarantee a championship. All I can guarantee is that if they stick with it and work hard then they will be much better players when they are done and hopefully because of that we will win a lot of games,” said Thompson.
“The goals for this season are simple. Academically we’re going to be very strong and that is our first and foremost goal. Our second objective is to get better every time we step on the field. We want to be a well organized that will be difficult to break down.”
The Falcons have appeared strong in their two preseason exhibitions games this season. Last Saturday they defeated Findlay 3-0 and yesterday they beat Defiance 4-1. The season opener will take place next Wednesday at Cochrane Field against Michigan State at 4 p.m.
