Men's soccer rework 2006 team

A revamped and talented roster will hope to bring championship glory to men's soccer this season at Fanshawe.

After a disappointing 2005 campaign, where the Falcons finished with a 2-5-1 record and failed to reach the OCAA provincial tournament for the first time in five years, the team is focused on regaining their championship form, building team chemistry, and implementing a new system of play.

Head coach Paul D'Hollander said his squad was humbled after last years disappointing result.

“We need to take things one game at a time and take no teams for granted,” D'Hollander said.

D'Hollander said last year the team struggled with chemistry and that is why this season he hopes things will be different.

“We want to focus on team building,” D'Hollander said.

“We need solid team chemistry and that needs to happen away from the field as well.”

The new style of play implemented by the coaching staff, which includes assistant coach Mario D'Oria and associate coaches Marco Tomasi, Wojtek Szydlowkski, Rob Pereira, and Tarik Kalajdzic, is different from past years.

“We're playing straight-up the park, in the middle of the field as opposed to wider wing play,” D'Hollander said.

D'Hollander said the 2006 version of the squad is a unique combination of players. Five players with previous experience with the Falcons, 10 first-year players, and seven players from last years team make up a roster.

“We have a very deep bench, we're very quick and very skilled,” D'Hollander said.

D'Hollander said several players would have to step-up and provide on-field leadership, something that is vital to the success of the team.

D'Hollander said Shawn Mendes would have to have a big year in net, while Greg Remijn, Rudy Stipancic, Peter Zarola, Ebenezer Owusu, and newcomer Fidel Villanueva would have to play well in order to reach the OCAA championships.

“We need our team to play the system we have in place and we need our key guys to have big years,” D'Hollander said.

“We're hoping to gain one of the top two spots in our division, and to do that we will likely have to go 7-1 or 6-2 this season. So along the way we need to concentrate on being road warriors, winning on the road, and also take of our home field.”

The men's team opens up their home schedule on Saturday, September 23 against Humber starting at 2:00 p.m. The women's soccer team, whose preview will be in the next issue of the Interrobang, also begin their home schedule facing Humber starting at 4:00 p.m.