Men's Soccer Hosts Northern Illinois in Exhibition Play

8/23/2007 12:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer

Aug. 23, 2007

MILWAUKEE - The 2007 Marquette Men's Soccer team marks the second season under head coach Louis Bennett. Unlike the first season, the majority of players on Bennett's squad will be those in which he's recruited. Of the 29 players on the roster, only five -- Aleksandar Bjelic, Dan Addis, Mike Carlson, Nick Kay and Duncan Silvert-Noftle -- haven't been recruited to Marquette by Bennett and his staff. What that boils down to is that Marquette will be a young team in the fall. The youthful Golden Eagles will get their second test in exhibition play on Friday, August 24 when they host Northern Illinois at 8 p.m. on the Valley Fields practice pitch. The contest has been moved to the field turf due to heavy rains in southeast Wisconsin over the last several days.

Last season, the Golden Eagles were admittedly young as well. A large recruiting class dominated the roster, but seven seniors were on the team in 2006. This year, there is just one senior and three juniors.

"We're going to be young again, and we knew that coming in," head coach Louis Bennett said. "How quickly the incoming players adapt will be key to how quickly we can have success. They will have to rely on last year's recruiting class to be their leaders."

Bennett said he expects much faster adaptation this season as opposed to last season, thanks to a seasoned group of returning players and the fact that the team is made up of players who will play specific positions throughout the year.

"This year, we're expecting there to be a lot of fighting for playing time early in the year," Bennett said. "Everyone knows their position and if someone doesn't perform, there is someone clawing behind them for playing time."

Carlson, the lone senior on the team, will not benefit from having several players that he has spent four years with to help provide the leadership on the team. From his defender spot, Carlson will be relying on the three juniors and the large sophomore class to help push the squad.

"We're asking Mike to be a lot of things to a lot of people as the only senior," Bennett added. "We need the entire group of returning players to act like leaders. We're expecting leadership by committee at first, and someone will step forward as the leader, not just on the field, but academically as well."

The 14 players returning from last years squad will welcome 15 newcomers. Like those in last year's class, many of the newcomers will be relied on to provide an immediate impact.

The most notable of the new class is forward Anthony Colaizzi, who was named Illinois State Player of the Year. Colaizzi scored 25 goals and 20 assists as a senior for Warren Township High School in Gurnee, Ill.

"With all the accolades that Anthony Colaizzi has acquired, a lot of people are wondering what to expect," Bennett said. "He's a true specialist. He's left footed and loves to attack from the wing. He has a knack of scoring goals. He can create on his own and finish back post and his personality is contagious."

Marquette has loaded up on forwards in its incoming class, looking to address a goal scoring need. Last season, Marquette found the net just eight times.

Also joining the roster as a forward is Sam Etim, a talented striker from Rockford, Ill.

"He's a powerful, strong, antagonistic central striker," Bennett said. "It's great having a player like Sam because he can make an opportunity himself. He can be individualistic and he can also conform to the team structure. He's the kind of guy who wants to take the team on his shoulders and do it himself."

Josh Belfrage, Tyler Schwab and Josh Curry also join the roster as forward to complement Michael Greene, who is the lone returning player up top. Silvert-Noftle may also find time moving forward, but his well rounded abilities will move him from the front spot, to the midfield and to the defense as needed.

"A player like Josh Belfrage is a true goal scorer,"?Bennett said. "He knows how to find the goal. We expect him and the rest of the forwards to have a shooting mentality. We want them to get to the box and take the familiar shots which will lead to scoring chances."

The Golden Eagles also loaded up in the midfield, however the roster has four returnees to the squad. Dan Addis was the leading goal scorer on the team last year, finding the net twice. He heated up his goal scoring in the spring and should be a dependable goal scoring option.

Nick Kay missed most of last season due to injury and illness, but he showed his scoring ability in the spring. Three other sophomores will also see action in the midfield -- Mehdi Eslami, Tom Lynn and Hector Navarro.

"Danny Addis was our most significant offensive player in the spring. Nick Kay is a workhorse who will try to find open chances," Bennett said. "We need the ball to come through them to provide the familiar goal scoring chances to our forwards."

Kay also benefitted most from club play in the summer, taking part in action for the FC Bavarians club in which he was the second leading scorer on the team, playing in the same spot he will for Marquette in 2007.

The most notable of the five midfielders added to the 2007 roster are Bernard Rahming and Niklas Dagervik. Stefan Antonijevic, Scott Miller and Matt Stummer also join the roster as midfielders. Rahming is a transfer from Vermont where he played in 20 career games. He is also a member of the Bahamian National Team.

Dagervik will be one of three Swedish players on the team. He provides size at 6-1 and a specific set of skills to the position.

"Niklas is an aggressive, mobile, interior midfield player," Bennett said. "I don't think hungry would adequately describe his desire, not only to do well but to be at Marquette University. He was extremely persistent in the recruiting process to make sure this is where he plays his college soccer."

Miller is the most versatile player on the squad and will find himself capable of playing multiple positions, be it wide midfielder, back or even attacking midfielder.

"We feel really lucky to have a guy like this who is strong, tough, left footed, can play a multitude of positions on the left side of the field or the center of midfield," Bennett said. "Last year, we had a lot of players play in multiple positions out of need. This year, Miller is the only one who has the skill to be able to play three positions."

At defender, Marquette returns its most depth. Carlson will add depth at outside defender as the lone senior returning on the team. Returning starters Tim Jallow and Billy Von Rueden will be the backbone of the defense as will juniors Duncan Silvert-Noftle and Aleksandar Bjelic, each of whom saw significant action in 2006.

Also returning is sophomore Brian Odem, who played more in the latter portions of the season. Despite having five returnees, Bennett will put pressure on his defense.

"It all starts in the back," Bennett said. "We were fine at times defensively last year and other times we weren't. We have got better, but we need to be more sound in decision making and starting the offense moving forward from the back."

Freshmen Dan Bauer and Adam Frydman join the defensive line this season. Frydman is the third Swede on the roster -- joining defensive line mate Jallow -- and is likely to challenge for significant playing time.

"He is an intelligent, wiry central defender. He can not only stop people from playing and can also play with the ball from the back," Bennett said. "His ambition and desire to further his career on the collegiate level has really impressed me in the recruiting process because it was as powerful as his already accomplished soccer career. He will be an important factor in stabilizing our defensive line."

Having some stability in the group from last season helps make the defense a strong unit. While the defense was a strength in 2006, there is definite room for improvement.

"We gave up four goals a game twice last season. That is too many,"?Bennett said. "We were kept in many games by our defense, but we need to give up fewer goals. We need to be in the low to mid teens in goals allowed for the season to have a chance to win games."

Returning in goal is starter Matt Pyzdrowski. The sophomore faced an inordinate amount of shots last season -- MU was outshot 250-127 -- but he held his own, recording a 1.81 goals against average.

"He was very solid for us last year and continued that in the spring," Bennett said. "There is no reason not to expect continued improvement from Pyzdrowski this season."

Three other keepers join the squad in juniors Bobby Ore and Mike Tabory and freshman Steve Purdy. Purdy will give Pyzdrowski his biggest challenge in the fall.

"He's ambitious and he has that tenaciousness," Bennett said. "I think he understands what he's getting into. The great situation for us is that we now have a true battle for the goalkeeping spot, which I think he's up for."

Last season, Pyzdrowski and Mark Dettmann shared time as one was or the other seemed to come down with freak injuries.

"There's no resting with four keepers,"?Bennett said. "One can't just sit back and say, `the other one has a broken finger, so I don't need to worry.' There are going to be at least two more guys ready to take the spot away."

The Golden Eagles kick off the 2007 season on August 31 at Denver before visiting UIC on September 2. MU has non-conference games against Xavier, Green Bay, Drake, Wisconsin and Wis.-Milwaukee on the schedule in addition to its difficult slate in the BIG EAST.