Experience And Depth Is The Foundation For Men's Soccer In 2010

Experience and depth is the foundation for men's soccer in 2010. Anchored by a group of six seniors and three juniors, all of whom played last season, second-year head coach Chris Streeter will direct a highly seasoned squad in the upcoming campaign.

The Blazers return a trio of all New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) selections from a year ago, including a two-time first team selection in midfielder Courtney Johnson (Belchertown, Mass.), a two-time second team All-NECC member, forward/defender Chris Silva (Chicopee, Mass.) as well as sophomore forward Tavish Leland (Bridgton, Maine) who garnered First Team All-NECC honors in 2009 as a freshman. 

Senior midfielders Sam Senecal (Chicopee, Mass.) and Josh Chagnon (Loudon, N.H.), defenders Justin Pearson (Torrington, Conn.) and Jon D'Amours (Chicopee, Mass.) combined with Johnson, Silva and Leland to score 71-percent of the Blazers' goals last season, and are all back looking to build on that output. 

Elms also returns junior midfielder Jonathan Coyne (East Longmeadow, Mass.) and junior goalkeeper Ryan Sullivan (Agawam, Mass.).

Forwards

Leland, Elms' leading goal scorer with five a year ago, will work with freshmen Nzigamasa Jonathan (Springfield, Mass.), and Adam O'Grady (Somers, Conn.) as well as junior transfer Sean Moylan (Chicopee, Mass.) to provide stellar offensive production this season.

Moylan played for the Blazers in 2006 and 2007 before transferring. During his first two seasons at Elms, Moylan netted eight goals connected for seven assists.

Midfielders

The Blazers' midfield will be the squad's most experienced third of the field, anchored by Johnson, Senecal, Chagnon and Coyne. O'Grady and Leland will also see some time in the midfield this season, providing tremendous depth.

In 2009, Johnson and Senecal struck for two scores each, while Senecal added an impressive four assists from his spot in the middle.

This season, Elms will rely upon the leadership and experience from the midfielders to fully execute in transition.

Freshmen Andrew Atton (Lynn, Mass.), Brendan Reed (East Longmeadow, Mass.), and Roldan Ramos-Monse (Springfield, Mass.) will join sophomore Suleiman Iddrisu (Chicopee, Mass.) as newcomers to the Blazers' midfield.

Defenders

Freshman Bryan Davey (Palmer, Mass.) will look to complement a corps of battle-tested defenders in D'Amours, Pearson and Silva – all of whom are seniors. This unit will provide a powerful foundation in front of goalkeeper Sullivan.

Last season, splitting time at forward towards the end of the season, Silva broke away for four goals, while Pearson added three scores of his own, helping to keep opponents off guard.

Goalkeepers

Sullivan returns for his third season between the pipes. In 2010, he played in 13 games and stopped 82 shots. In two seasons he has stopped 167 shots and ranks four on the Blazers' all-time saves list.

Question and Answer with Coach Streeter
Q: Which player needs to make the biggest impact to have a successful 2010 season?
A: Courtney Johnson , Chris Silva, Jon D'Amours, and Justin Pearson need to be solid in the back for us. Tavish Leland in the attacking third of the field needs to continue to score goals for us.

Q: Which newcomer(s) need to step in and fill an immediate void left by the 2009 graduating class?
A: Brendan Reed will help to fill the Ben Masse and Nick Bamford void on defense, while Adam O'Grady will play a big role for us in the midfield and on attack.

Q: Which player has improved the most since last season?
A: Ryan Sullivan has made strides in the technical aspects of goalkeeping in addition to bringing more maturity and leadership than last year.

Q: What are your thoughts on the corps of nine returners heading into this season?  
A: They are our workhorses, and we will rely heavily on their productivity and leadership all year long.

Q: How hard is it as a head coach to try and mix in seven newcomers on a 17-man roster?
A: Not as big of a challenge as you might expect.  The guys quickly adapt to the culture of our team, and our coaching staff works very hard each day to be sure all players understand their role as individuals and as teammates.

Q: Comment on the return of Sean Moylan to the squad after a two-year absence. How will he fit into the mold with the other nine returners?
A: He's a great guy to have around.  Very popular with the guys, and is very good friends with a handful of them.  He's a hard worker who brings some legitimate goal scoring ability to our team.

Q: What is one challenge that the team needs to overcome this year in order to be productive?

A: We need to find a way to score more goals.  We also need to be sure we compete for the full 90 minutes each game.  If we can push through these challenges, we will be very difficult to beat.