Men's Soccer Preview, Part 5: Wright State

Aug. 19, 2006

The Wright State men's soccer team will have a good mix of experience and youth as when they kick off the 2006 season. The Raiders return only five starters from a team that made it to the Horizon League Semifinals a season ago, but a collection of talented recruits and a group of transfers will try to help the Raiders to the championship in 2006. Head Coach Mike Tracy heads into his sixth season at the helm and looks to make an appearance in the Horizon League semifinals for the fifth time.

Forwards

"At the forward position we have a core group of young talented players," head coach Mike Tracy said. "All of these players were proven scores before they arrived at Wright State and we look for them to continue on the path while wearing the Green and Gold."

The Raiders enter the 2006 season with a stable full of forwards that look to lead the offense through a tough schedule. The front line is made up of four newcomers and three players with Horizon League experience entering the season. Returning to the front line is sophomore Josh Grossman, the Raiders second leading goal scorer from a season ago, junior Brian Decker and senior Kyle Bryan. Decker, who appeared in 11 games, tallied one assist in `05, and Bryan appeared in nine games last season with an assist. Adding experience to the front line will be Scott McKinney, a transfer from Cincinnati, who appeared in four matches for the Bearcats during his freshman campaign. A trio of freshman also joins the Raiders attack in Jacob Broussard, Brandon Fleak and Adam Harp. The three players come to Wright State after stellar prep careers, with Broussard a Louisiana native and Fleak and Harp are each Ohio products.

Midfielders

""This group is our most solid unit coming into this season," coach Tracy said. "We will be trying a couple of young players out in this role and looking to our veterans to help them through the early part of the season."

Leading the midfielders into the 2006 season will be 2005 First Team All-League performer Tony Labudovski, who is coming off a nine-goal campaign last season. Joining Labudovski in the midfield will be four newcomers, including three freshman, with the most experienced player a transfer from the University of Virginia. Milovan Milosevic, who competed for the Cavaliers last season, will enter his first season as a Raider with sophomore status looks to help Labudovski tutor the young group for a postseason push. Milosevic joins fellow Serbian Uros Grujic on the Raiders roster while Texan Jonah Longino and Florida product Chad Trimm round out the group of freshman in 2006.

Defenders

"The most experienced group on the field for us will be our defense," coach Tracy said. "We return three starters and have moved some players from other positions to the defensive side of the pitch to make it our deepest unit too."

In 2006 the Green and Gold will look to a trio of seniors to help replace the leadership lost to graduation, mainly from three-time team captain Trent Corbin. Jonah Baskin, David Caputo and Jake Slemker will look to lead the team on the backline and look to supply the jump-start for the Raiders offense. The speedy Eric Johnson joins the defensive unit after spending his freshman season at the forward position and will aid the backline with good on-ball skills and great speed. Anthony Smerk appeared in 20 games as a freshman and will look to add to that during his sophomore campaign. Roger Downing will enter his second season with the Raiders and bring much needed experience off the bench for the Green and Gold. The lone newcomer of the group is Wittenberg transfer Michael Conley, who enters his sophomore season. Conley netted four goals and added one assist during his freshman season with the Tigers before joining the Raider backfield.

Goalkeepers

The Raiders enter the season with a talented group of four goalkeepers that are highlighted by returnee Jason Leuthold touting the most experience in the group. Leuthold has appeared in 11 games during his three seasons at WSU and posts a 1.68 Goals Against Average while posting two shutouts. Joining Leuthold in the net will be JUCO transfer Tebias Mason, sophomore Eric Guild and freshman Matt Koewler. Guild enters his second season with WSU after watching last season as Leuthold and then senior Jason Balach helped the Raiders to a 10-10 record and a birth in the Horizon League semifinals. Mason comes to WSU after two stellar seasons at Santa Rosa Junior College where he posted 13 shutouts last season and garnered NSCAA JUCO First Team All-American honors. Mason joined the Raiders in the spring and looks to build off the experience heading into the 2006 regular season. Koewler joins the Raiders after a prep career at Glen Este High School near Cincinnati.

Schedule

The Raiders will open the 2006 season on their home turf when three other teams travel to Fairborn to square off in the 2006 WSU adidas Cup. The Raiders welcome Butler, IPFW and St. Mary's (CA) to Alumni Field for competition the two-match format tournament. After hosting the adidas Cup the Raiders head on a seven game road trip that takes them to three states and wraps up back in the Buckeye State. The Raiders start their road trip with a trek to Birmingham, AL to face off with UAB and Birmingham Southern in the UAB Classic and then head south to the Sunshine State for games against Central Florida and Jacksonville. The Raiders then travel to Bowling Green to take on the Falcons and then head across the border to play IUPUI before returning home to face off with cross-town rival Dayton. The Raiders open up league play with a pair of home matches against Butler and Cleveland State before hitting the road for four more games against Loyola, preseason #24 UW-Milwaukee, UW-Green Bay and #3 Akron. The Green and Gold close out the season by hosting league foes UIC and Detroit and close out the season with a non-conference home match with Eastern Illinois.

Story provided by WSU Office of Sports Information