Coming off of a strong 3-3-1 finish to the 2010 season, the 2011 VMI men's soccer team is entering year two of Richie Rose's tenure as the head man of the Keydet program. Last season, Rose led the Keydet side to a 3-5 record in conference play, the best mark VMI has achieved since joining the Big South in 2003. The record was also the top conference mark for the Keydets since VMI was 3-4-1 in the SoCon during the 2001 campaign.
The Keydets return 12 letterwinners from a season ago, along with five starters. The 2011 squad will be led by outside midfielder and three-time All-Big South honoree in senior Ayao Sossou. After featured in more of a defensive role last season, he will now look to press forward and contribute to the Keydet offensive attack. Additionally, team captains Brendan Gary and Stewart Wilkinson will be looked to for leadership as well as consistency on the field.
“The goal for this season is to improve performance consistency,” said head coach Richie Rose. “Towards the end of last season, and certainly during the spring season, the team played good attacking soccer. However, these performances need to last for longer periods of the game. Developing consistency will require higher levels of concentration while focusing on the process of individual and team performance.”
Goalkeeper
The Keydets will need to replace the top goalkeeper in program history in Brian Sowell, who holds virtually every goalkeeping accolade in the VMI record book. The top candidates to fill the spot in net are junior Taylor Feuerstein as well as sophomore Daniel Kitchen. Kitchen brings the most experience to the table, as he filled in for Sowell for the High Point match a year ago, allowing 2 goals and making seven saves in the 2-0 loss to the regular-season Big South Champions. Feuerstein, on the other hand, has yet to log any time in his collegiate career.
“Over the past four years, we haven't had a competition for the top spot. This year, we have a competition between Taylor and Daniel, which is good because of that I think we got complacent in this position in the past. Each will look to be consistent performers in practice to earn time in our matches this season,” said Rose of his netminders.
Rejoining the fold after sitting out last year to focus on academics is junior Adrian Dominguez, who played in eight contests with two starts as a freshman and one contest as a sophomore.
“Adrian's strong point is his technique in playing long balls, and has a great presence due to his height,” said Rose. “Along with his skills on the pitch, he is also a great leader in the Corps and someone for the guys to look up to.”
Defender
Defense should be a strong suit for the Keydets in 2011, and could be keyed by the return of redshirt-freshman Santo Ripa, who missed his freshman campaign due to a broken leg. He will team with junior David Rochow and Gary to form one of the squad's most formidable units.
“Santo brings something to our back line that we haven't had before, which is consistency on our backline. He and David have more or less mastered their role in 1 vs. 1 defending in space. I'm looking for great things from them, as they can also attack offensively, which is important for a modern fullback in today's game,” said Rose of his defensive trio.” Brandon is a hard-nosed defender and a leader on the field. If the chips are down, Brandon is the one that stands up and tries to make things happen.”
Senior Zaher Shihata and sophomore Stephen Mallon will battle for time in the central defense, as both bring different aspects to the Keydet defense.
“Mallon and Shihata are two different types of players. Mallon's strengths are his aerial presence, while Zaher is more adept with his feet. Each player fits in differently with what type of team we are playing. However, I have belief in both of them to get them job done.”
Midfield
With the formation that the Keydets will employ, VMI will rely heavily on its midfield unit. Led by Sossou, the squad also brings back their starting central midfielders from in juniors Kip Zechman and Matt Seinfeld. Wilkinson, as well as junior Peyton Dekker will also be looked to for contributions.
“Ayao will play as a wide midfielder to utilize his speed going forward. He can help us penetrate backline's and break through defenders offensively.”
Joining Sossou on the opposite side as a wide midfielder will be Wilkinson, who split time last season as a defender as well as a midfielder.
“Stewart has great leadership skills on the field as well as in the Corps, but is also a bit more of a silent leader. On the field, he is very consistent, and his strength is that he knows his role very well. He has good pace as well as technical ability, and identifies when to expose space very well.”
Dekker rejoins the fold after a year focusing on military duties a year ago, seeing action in 12 matches as a freshman with a pair of starts. He will look to fill the void left by departed senior Brian Harding, who led the team in scoring the past three years.
“Dekker left team to pursue the military aspect of VMI after his freshman year, and realized that being part of a team is equally as important. He gives us a dose of tenacity, and has good awareness going forward and can win balls for us in defense. He will be a great compliment to Kip and Matt in the midfield.”
Zechman returns as the squad's holding midfielder, while Seinfeld will reassume his role as the playmaking midfielder after struggling with injuries for a portion of last season. Seinfeld did manage to rank fifth in the conference in shots per contest (2.92), as he had 38 in his 13 matches.
“Kip is one of the best holding midfielders in the conference, because he knows his role. The great thing about Kip is that he can switch the point of attack with short and long passes. He and Matt will once again complement each other very well this year.”
Forward
After scoring 17 goals in 17 contests last year, the squad will look to anyone and everyone for offensive production. However, the forward position will serve as the go to spot for goals, as well as a link player to involve the midfield.
“Our forwards will serve as more of a link player than anything else this year,” said Rose of forwards. “Jacob MacIntyre has really transformed himself to more of a technical player and has an aerial presence while allowing our wing players to push up. Additionally, Chase Barnett is strong on the floor as well, and can drop into the midfield and make plays as for us.”
Also looking to contribute to the Keydet front line this season is junior Kyle Farmer and sophomore Aaron White.
“Our attacking options from midfield are enhanced through the versatility and dynamism play of Kyle Farmer and Aaron White,” said Rose. “Each of these players have developed over the spring and have learned more about their roles on the team. Kyle has great pace down the flank and Aaron is very versatile in an attacking role. Additionally, both players possess a great ability to score goals and this will prove to be very valuable in the long run.”
Newcomers
VMI welcomes eight freshman to the fold, all of who are capable of contributing in their initial year on Post at their respective positions.
“Blake McCauley has fit into the midfield extremely well, and will push Kip to continue to develop in his role,” said Rose. “I'm also very pleased with Max Farinholt, as he has demonstrated some excellent attributes thus far with his aerial presence. He will certainly push for time on our backline. Taylor Rafaly has loads of pace and is strong on the ball, but still needs to acquire the skill of becoming more of a link player.”
Coaching
2011 also marks the second year of VMI alumnus Tony Conway's stint with the Keydet program, as he is a 2001 graduate of the Institute. Conway's specialties lie in working with the goalkeepers on the field, as well as promoting the Keydet program via social media off the field.
“Coach Conway brings a no-excuse attitude to the squad,” said Rose of his top assistant. “He does a great job with the goalkeepers with the curriculum he has built for them, and has developed his own style of coaching with them. He gives invaluable advice to our players after going through the VMI system, and can solve problems that I simply can't solve by being a mentor to our players.”
Additionally, Daniel Welsh, a 2010 graduate of the Institute, will serve as a volunteer assistant coach for the second-straight year while attending law school at neighboring Washington & Lee University.
Schedule
For the second-straight season, the Keydets will take on ACC foe NC State, as well as battle a service academy in the Army Black Knights. Additionally, the addition of Campbell to the Big South now gives VMI nine conference matches to go along with a match against NJIT and a trip to Nashville, Tenn., to take on Lipscomb and Belmont.
“Playing an ACC school early in the season helps us exploit our weaknesses,” said Rose of the Wolfpack. “They have lots of depth and the tempo of the game really never changes, which will help us with our fitness. Part of our game is learning to deal with pressure in space, and we'll be challenged with a lot of technical players who play an attacking style of soccer.”
Additionally, the Keydets will host Army on Sept. 2, marking the first time in program history that the Keydets have played the Black Knights.
“Anytime we play a military school, our guys feel like we're playing on an even level. They are playing someone that goes through similar day-to-day challenges and the same types of adversity that only a military school can experience. With there only being a few in the country, we strive to be the best service academy out there and compete against teams that face the same obstacles that we do.”
Following a match vs. NJIT on Sept. 4, the Keydets will then embark on a four-match road swing, beginning with a trip to Nashville for a pair of matches. Following the trip to the Music City, the Keydets will head to Macon, Ga., to take on Mercer on Sept. 16, and take on USC Upstate in Spartanburg, S.C. prior to returning back to Post.
“Durability as a team is key for us. The month of September is overloaded, and will prepare us for the Big South slate. We want to have a roster of players that can consistently play 90-110 minutes, which will certainly test our depth.”
The Big South boasts a pair of top-60 squads nationally this year in Coastal Carolina and High Point. The addition of Campbell, as well as an anticipated rebound year by perennial power Winthrop could make for a difficult conference slate this year.
“The conference is getting better as a whole,” remarked Rose. “The team High Point was six to eight years ago just shows anyone can build a program and come in and win the conference regular-season title. There are teams that will always be strong, and the addition of Campbell which will make it even more competitive. It is our job to find our way to the Big South Championship, and it just adds to the overall quality of the conference.”
