SALT LAKE CITY – The Westminster College men's soccer team begins the 2012 season with two games at Dumke Field this weekend. Westminster will begin against Avila (Mo.) on Saturday at 2:30 p.m. The Griffins will then play College of Idaho on Sunday at 2:30 p.m.
It is a busy weekend at Dumke Field with soccer action. Besides the Westminster games, Hope International will play College of Idaho at 4 p.m. on Friday and then face Avila on Sunday at noon.
Griffin Notebook
The Griffins will look to improve on the 9-8-1 season they had in 2011. The team returns 16 players from that squad, including both starting goalkeepers in
Nathan Young and
Damir Sabanovic. Other key returners include starters
Jace Maxfield,
Wilson Larson,
Bryan Rucklos,
Ryan Smith and
Adam Bullough. Maxfield and Larson started all 18 games last year while Smith and Bullough made 17 starts apiece.
Starting Fast
Westminster has a good history in season opening games. Entering the 29th season of men's soccer, the Griffins are 16-8-4 all-time in season openers. They have gone 8-2 in the past 10 opening contests. In home openers, Westminster is 18-8-2 all-time and has won 10 of the previous 12.
Expanding out to the first five games of the year, the Griffins have compiled a 15-9-1 record since 2007. In the last two years that record is 7-3.
What's Coming Back
With those 16 players returning Westminster brings back just 29.6 percent of the totals goals they had in 2011. However, if you remove the 12 goals scored by graduated senior
Dennis Sellis, Westminster then returns 53.3 percent of the goals scored by everyone else. Both Maxfield and Gonzalez scored two goals last year and were the only two players on the team to score multiple goals besides Sellis.
The team also welcomes back 57.1 percent of the total assists from last year.
Manuel Duenas is back after recording a team-best five helpers a year ago. Larson posted three assists and is the other returnee that had multiple assists in 2011. In goal, Young and Sabanovic combined to make 66 saves with a 72.5 save percentage. They had an 9-8 record between them with two shutouts.
Scouting Avila
After four consecutive seasons of improvements under fifth year head coach Chris Clements, the Eagles are looking to take a big step towards a .500 record and entry into the Heart of America Athletic Conference Tournament. The Eagles return 22 players from the 2011 squad while also adding 20 newcomers. Up top, the Eagles return two All-HAAC performers and senior leaders in Dustin Deisher and Justin Scicluna. The two combined for nine of the Eagles 29 goals as well as nine of the team's sixteen assists in 2011.
Scouting College of Idaho
Coming off a 7-9-2 season that featured 14-of-18 games decided by one goal or less, the Coyotes return a key mix of upperclassmen and second-year players with experience. Coupled with a solid recruiting class, the Yotes are poised to make a return to the postseason for the second time in three seasons.
Against the Opposition
Saturday's game will be the first-ever meeting between Westminster and Avila.
The Griffins and Yotes have met 29 times with Westminster holding a 17-10-2 advantage. The Griffins have currently won four straight in the series and took the last meeting 3-0 on Aug. 29, 2007 in Salt Lake City.
