Coming off its best season ever in 1997 (in which the Eagles advanced to the National Championship semifinals and finished with a 21-3-1 record), last year's Mary Washington men's soccer team experienced a frustrating season, ending with an 8-11-1 mark and a third-place finish in the Capital Athletic Conference.
The young Eagles, who had five underclassmen in the starting lineup, faced one.of the top schedules in the nation again in '98, including national powers Greensboro Coilege, Gettysburg College, Virginia Wesleyan College, and Roanoke College. Although injuries forced several inexperienced players to step up in the heat of battle against top teams such as these, MWC did find several solid players who, with a national recruiting class, will form the nucleus of a very strong 1999 squad.
Leading the way will be the defense, led by rising seniors Kelly Coffey and Kevin Linton. Coffey, the team captain, overcame a serious foot injury which forced him to sit out the 1997 season to post a solid campaign last year. Linton, a first team All-Capital Athletic Conference choice, overcame several nagging injuries to post four goals and two assists despite missing several games.
Also back for 1999 will be a pair of battle-tested sophomores in defender Martin Smith and midfielder Aaron Bernstein. Smith, a second-team All-CAC choice as a freshman, stepped up nicely at defender against some of the top scorers in the South Region. Bernstein scored three goals and added three assists after emerging as a starter early in the season.
In all, the Eagles return their top six scorers from '98, including seniors Brad Kelly, Dan Guarriello, Linton, Bernstein, and rising junior Alex Addison, who posted three goals and two assists from his outside midfield position.
Also back is midfielder Brian Turner, who scored nine goals as a sophomore in '97, and added a game-winner against Misericordia for the Eagles a year ago. Defensively, the Eagles will welcome back a veteran crew for '99, including Smith, Coffey, Jordi Kleiman, John Buchanan, and Adrien Burke.
The Eagles also welcome back All-CAC goalkeeper J.T. Nino (1.58 GAA, six shutouts); Ed Burrier was lost to graduation. In addition, the Eagles lose four field players to graduation, making tryouts for the 1999 squad as competitive as ever.
Each season, open tryouts begin in mid-August for prospective andreturning players. The Eagles' prospects for next season are very positive, with the return of two all-conference players; however, transfers and freshmen recruits will playa major role if Mary Washington is to reload and make another run at an NCAA Division III National Championshipin 1999.