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2009
Season Preview: MCCC Men's Soccer
9/8/09
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The Mercer County
Community College men's soccer team doesn't name team captains for
an entire season. Veteran head coach Charlie Inverso prefers rotating
different captains for different games to inspire more players to
step forward as leaders.
His 2009 squad
has plenty of excellent candidates. The Vikings have a talented
veteran squad that a year ago won the Region XIX Tournament title
and reached the National Junior College Athletic Association Division
I Championships for the eighth consecutive season.
The Vikings,
who finished 2008 with a 19-3 record, have extra incentive to keep
the string of national tournament appearances alive. MCCC will host
the eight-team national championships for the first time since 1999,
from November 18-22.
"I think
right now our biggest strength is our depth," said Inverso,
who begins his 24th season at MCCC with five national championships
and over 400 wins to his credit. "That obviously gives the
coaches a lot of leverage because when there's depth there's always
concern about losing your spot. That keeps guys sharp and on their
toes. I think we're pretty tough, too. I think our teams here have
always been pretty tough physically and mentally."
MCCC enters
the season ranked No. 3 in the NJCAA's national preseason poll behind
Yavapai College (Prescott, Ariz.), the defending national champion
(which has already suffered a loss this season in its opening game
against Chandler-Gilbert CC), and San Jacinto College-South (Houston).
Leading the
Vikings into action is sophomore midfielder Amit Aburmad (Israel),
an NJCAA First Team All-American in 2008. He is joined in the midfield
by two other natives of Israel, sophomore Ido Ligety and freshman
Niv Bernstein, as well as sophomore Hosman Ramos (Miami).
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Forward
Frank Tweneboa is
expected to add to the goal total.
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Sophomore
Ido Ligety returns
the midfield.
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The
Vikings figure to be high scoring with its unit of forwards, which includes
sophomore Frank Tweneboa (Pennsauken), a versatile player who got better
throughout last season. Inverso considers Arturo Barajas (New Rochelle,
N.Y.) to be a natural goal scorer. Other forwards who are local high school
products are sophomore Luigi Moriello and freshman Rocike Kazouch from
Trenton, and freshman Mohamed Conteh from West Windsor-Plainsboro North.
The
backfield has a pair of dominant center backs in sophomores Nigel Blair
(Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) and Darnell Edwards (Greenbelt, Md.). The outside
backs are freshmen Robin Patton (Germany) and Victor Angulo (Miami).
Other
players expected to contribute significantly are sophomores Julian Ward
(Elkins Park, Pa.) and Israel Delgado (Hightstown, N.J.), and freshman
Mark Pratico (Hamilton, N.J.).
Inverso
has named freshman Sean Duble (Miami) as the starting goalkeeper, although
he also is confident in the play of sophomore backup David Schindewolf
(Lawrence, N.J.).
MCCC
begins its regular season Wednesday, September 9 at SUNY Ulster. The Vikings'
home opener is Saturday, September 12 against Monroe College at 2 p.m.
"I
think we're pretty talented," Inverso said.
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