Vanderbilt Men’s Soccer Reports This Weekend

Vanderbilt Men’s Soccer Reports This Weekend

8/13/2004

Vanderbilt Men’s Soccer Reports This Weekend
Commodores Welcome 38th-ranked Recruiting Class

The Vanderbilt men’s soccer team reports to training camp Sunday with two-a-day practices starting Monday.  The team arrives on campus Sunday for photo day before practice begins the next day.

Third year Head Coach Tim McClements is hoping to build on his young team and turn youth into experience with 13 players returning as sophomores. Joining them will be the No. 38-ranked recruiting class, which will help improve on last year’s 3-10-5 (0-7-2 MVC) record.
 
“I am very excited about the potential of this young group,” McClements said. “Our junior and senior classes provide us with great leadership and experience.  Our sophomore class has one year of experience under their belt.  We have six new players on the team, four freshman and two transfers.  They all have the ability to make an immediate contribution.  I feel that we have a great foundation to build upon.”
 
The Commodores return senior Ryan Paugh, who as a defender scored three goals and had one assist to finish second on the team in both goals and points (7) and midfielder Brendan Matthews who played in every game last year.  At goalkeeper, the Commodores return senior Jamie Burns, who started the season strong last year. He came off the bench in the VU’s eighth game of the season to hold cross-town rival Belmont University scoreless. He then started the following game to shutout East Carolina and earned MVC Player of the Week honors in Vanderbilt’s back-to-back wins.

The Commodore’s schedule features 17 regular-season games, including nine on the road — three of those against teams that played in the NCAA Tournament last year.

“Our schedule will be a great test for this team,” McClements said.  “Our non-conference schedule gives the new players an opportunity to gel with the returnees as we prepare for Missouri Valley Conference play.

MVC All-Freshman team selections Justin “JP” Moreland and Jamie Gilbert anchor the middle of the field and are two of seven players returning who played in every game last season.  Moreland also earned MVC Honorable Mention honors.

“Although we are still a very young team, I feel that this group of players has a solid mix of experience and talent,” McClements added.  “The players have been training hard this summer and I am very excited about the potential of this young group.”

The Commodores play at Belmont in the season opener Sept. 1 (Wednesday) at 7:30 pm.  VU’s home opener is Sept. 6 (Monday) vs. Drury at 3 pm.