The theme for the 2008 St. Thomas men’s soccer team is growth as they not only try to build on their late-season 2007 success, but also incorporate new players and become a more cohesive unit. The team’s upbeat outlook coming into this season stems from a 3-2 record to close 2007, including four Florida Sun Conference opponents, and highlighted by a 1-0 defeat of then 21st ranked Savannah College of Art & Design.
While last year’s team did not include a single senior, this year’s squad features three returning seniors - goalkeeper Shaul Hagiel, defenseman Gustavo Isaac, and midfielder Javier Taveras. Third year Head Coach Felix Mats expects strong leadership from the trio and hopes that they will instill a sense of discipline throughout his team which was lacking at times last season with such a large majority of underclassmen. Coach Mats said that he has “higher expectations” of his senior leaders, and that he will also look for direction from the team’s juniors, who make up the core of the team and were part of Mats’ first recruiting class at St. Thomas.
Mats opined that another source of leadership will come from sophomore goalkeeper Aaron Jones, who assumes the starting role after limited duty in his first season with the Bobcats. Although not the starter last year, coach Mats believes Jones gained valuable in-game experience, and Jones himself said he feels “no pressure” about his elevated role and was “excited to accept the challenge.”
Two players that look to replicate their stellar 2007 campaigns are defenseman Daniel de la Cruz and midfielder Gabe Renteria. De la Cruz was named Florida Sun Conference player of the week last season and expects to have similar success this season with help from all of his defense due to their increased experienced with the ‘four back’ defensive scheme that worked so well for the team at the end of last season. He added that there is a “winning mentality” among this team and that all the new additions are working well together and that the returning players are also more comfortable with each other after another season of playing together. Renteria, who led the team in assists last year with three, noted that the team has been “very focused and training hard all summer” and that he expects far more goals and assists from his team this year. He added that with a more aggressive attacking style, the team will have more opportunities to score, and that this year’s team will build on the late-season success they experienced, which was due in part to the fact that “we were more like a family and became a very close-knit team.”
Jones, de la Cruz, and Renteria also pointed to the addition of new staff and the infusion of new ideas and strategies as keys to this season. They all felt that this year’s goal was to win Regionals and believed that the continued growth from last year and added familiarity with the offensive and defensive schemes would allow them to contend in the conference. Jones added that “this is the year St. Thomas soccer will be recognized” and all agreed that this year’s team has higher expectations, but they also felt that they are more than capable of reaching postseason play.
To kick of the 2008 season, Mats continued the tradition of a pre-season retreat by taking the team camping for the day at Miami Beach State Park, after going on a three day excursion to Sarasota River State Park last August. Mats said these activities are important because it “helps bring the team together” and “aids in incorporating new players to the team while building chemistry in a more relaxed setting.” He also noted that the late season surge from 2007 was due in large part to the fact that the team felt the need to prove it’s self, and that the victories were a sign of maturity and the product of a long season of progression. As for this year, Mats hopes to avoid a slow start and to continue to build on the potential his team showed in the last quarter of 2007. If the attitude of coach Mats and the players, as well as their accomplishments on the field are any sign, this will indeed be the year that STU men’s soccer gets recognized.