MSOC SEASON PREVIEW: Defiance College starts regular season on Wednesday
DEFIANCE, Ohio – Defiance College men's soccer enters the NAIA era for its 35th season and first under new head coach Htut Zar. The first three contests will be on the road beginning with Wednesday night's trip to Taylor prior to the home opener against familiar foe Adrian on August 30.
Season Outlook
The Yellow Jackets reached the HCAC Tournament last season for the fourth time in five years and was DC's only program with a .500 or better record at 6-6-7. Now under a new head coach, the team is zeroed in on building a strong foundation and culture. With this in mind, Coach Zar understands the need to compete at a high-tempo pace that applies heavy doses of defensive pressure while exuding a high soccer IQ. "We are transforming into a team that emphasizes hard work, speed and agility," says Coach Zar. These are important traits to this team to uphold competitiveness in every game and practice to raise the bar every day.
Continual improvement is one of the team's primary goals this year. One of Coach Zar's tactics is to develop through preparation with game strategy and also continually evaluate. The Yellow Jackets will be working hard in all aspects. The second objective this season is academic success. Men's soccer has been one of DC's most accomplished teams in the classroom over recent years. Coach Zar greatly desires to see that continue through player-to-player mentorship, study sessions, personal development plans and more.
About the Team
One of the biggest holes to fill is goalkeeper Orry Killam, who graduated holding most of DC's career goalkeeping records. The Jackets will also be looking for scoring after losing the team's top two scorers in First Team All-HCAC performer Riley Hensley (11 goals) and Joshua Maurer (6 goals). However, plenty of experience returns with five players who started double-digit games a year ago led by Noah Svanberg for his fifth year. That group also includes Quinn Holtzapple and Griffin Meyer, a pair of rising sophomores on the back end of the formation. Meyer led the team with seven assists last season. The returning experience at all levels of DC's formation is valuable for Coach Zar's vision and he notes those returners as "the backbone of the team, providing leadership on and off the field."
The recruiting class is diverse in many facets. Out of 12 new faces to the program, eight are incoming freshmen with four transfers joining the squad to infuse a variety of maturity and skillset to contribute right away. Coach Zar has also attracted a number of international students to give Defiance a global flavor to the global game.
Conference Outlook
Now a member of the Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference, the Yellow Jackets will face strong competition. Aquinas and Indiana Tech split the conference's 13 first place votes in the preseason coaches poll with Aquinas favored to repeat as regular-season champions. While both teams won 14 matches last season, the Warriors claimed the WHAC Tournament Championship at the end of the year. Defiance was narrowly selected 13th as the unknown newcomer to the conference. Aside from an early match against Cleary, conference play for DC begins in the second week of September.
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