Freddy Wojtkowski (left) works in the goal

Erskine Men's Soccer Hopes For Strong Offense This Season

Taking over a team that won just four games last year, new Erskine Men's Soccer Coach Garth Pollonais is not mincing words when it comes to what his team needs to work on during preseason practice.

"Offensively, we are capable of being very dangerous," Pollonais said. "One of the things that we have to accomplish is playing good team defense. If we can stay organized and play 90 minutes of good soccer, we are going to score goals."

Scoring was a problem last year, when the Fleet dropped six games by one goal.

"Looking back at last year, goal scoring was a big issue," Pollonais said. "We cannot score 25-30 goals a season and be successful. Our strikers have to be much more focused on putting the ball in the back of the net. We have to be prepared when the opportunities present themselves so that we will be able to execute."

Three players with tremendous offensive potential are senior All-CVAC Honorable Mention Dhoud Samba, junior Rudi Rudder and sophomore Trevor Tyler, all playing the striker position. Other key players include senior midfielder David Jones and senior goalkeeper Michael Johnson.

"These guys will have to have big seasons," Pollonais said. "They are going to have to step up their games to allow us to have a potent offense. I also think one or two of the freshmen are going to surprise some people.

"Our goalkeeper is also extremely important, and Michael Johnson has to have the best season of his career," Pollonais said. "He is going to have to play big all year long, with the maturity and confidence of a senior, if we are going to accomplish our goals at the end of the season."

Those goals include improving on the 4-13 record from last year and last place finish in the Carolinas-Virginia Athletic Conference.

"We are going to strive to get into the CVAC tournament, and in every game that we play we are going to make it competitive," Pollonais said.

"Right now we have taken a positive step toward what we want to accomplish as a team," he said. "The players have been working hard and I think our development as a team will depend on our continued work ethic as a group and as individuals. That will determine where we are at the end of the season."

The Erskine men's team will continue three-a-day practices this week and will host a scrimmage Saturday at 10:30 a.m. against the PeeDee club team. The Fleet will scrimmage PeeDee again Friday here at 7 p.m.

Erskine opens the season on the road against Lenoir-Rhyne Sept. 4.