Yellow Jacket Soccer ready for ’05 season

DEFIANCE, Ohio—The 2005 Defiance College men’s soccer team will kick off their season on Saturday at the Oberlin College Tournament. The Yellow Jackets will have plenty to prove and much to play for as they make their way though another tough regular season schedule.

What the Jackets will be playing for is a teammate they lost when two-time All-Heartland Conference forward Branden Able was tragically lost in a July motorcycle accident.

First-year head coach Scott Baker takes the reins of a Jacket program that went 8-7-3 in 2004 and made the program’s third-straight appearance in the HCAC post-season tournament before falling to Transylvania, 0-2 in Lexington on November 3.

Baker brings the experience of building both of his previous programs, Brookdale College and Flagler College to national Top-25 and Top-3 rankings, respectively. The Rowan University alum captured an NCAA Championship as a record-setting midfielder on the school’s 1990 squad.

Able’s legacy remains at Winsper-Knobel Field in the form of his former teammates, including seniors Jeff Meyer and Joel Wilkins, who also played with the 2004 HCAC Freshman of the Year at Amelia High School in southern Ohio. Meyer leads the Jacket defense from the goal, as he registered 67 saves and four shutouts as a junior goalkeeper in 2004. Wilkins has played in 57 games in three seasons with the Jackets and has been named to two-consecutive All-HCAC squads as a defender.

Fellow seniors Kevin Tanceusz, Chris Berg and Joe DiSalvio add leadership to the ’05 Jackets. Tanceusz is a fierce competitor on defense that was second on the team in 2004 with five assists, while Berg adds ball skills to the Jacket defense and midfield after scoring one goal a season ago. DiSalvio makes the switch from goalkeeper to defender after seeing action in nine games in 2004, stopping 42 shots and achieving two shutouts.

Juniors Jared Gray and Alex Toll are good all-around athletes that will see plenty of field time in Baker’s system. Gray, a defender, is a vocal leader that scored one goal in five games last season. Toll will see time at forward, coming off one-goal, one-assist ’04 season.

The sophomore class is headlined by 2004 HCAC Freshman of the Year Karl Eustache, while Ryan Rothermel, Craig Burke and Benji Hughes all gained valuable experience as freshman. Eustache scored five goals and led the team with six assists in 2004 and will lead the DC offensive attack. Rothermel has plenty of range on defense and can flip the field in a hurry, while Burke is a hard-working component of DC’s starting defense. Hughes had three assists and one goal last season and will supply an offensive touch to the midfield position.

There is a wealth of talent in the Jacket freshman class. Tino Black, Dan Walther and Matt Blount will all likely see plenty of action after racking up all-conference, all-district, and all-county honors at the high school level.

Assistant coach Brian Eichenberg joins Baker for his first season at DC. Eichenberg played under Baker at Brookdale before earning all-conference honors and graduating from Methodist College.

After this weekend’s action at Oberlin, the Jackets will travel to the Ohio Northern Tournament next Friday and Saturday before opening their home season on September 14 when they host Adrian College.