TU Men's soccer will open their season tomorrow evening in pursuit of a Sun Conference championship after falling in the TSC Quarter Finals in 2012. The Night Hawks will open their campaign at 7PM when they face Georgia Gwinnett College, the NAIA's 2012 top first year program, in Lawrenceville, GA.
Thomas will continue their opening road trip to Lawrenceville on Saturday evening when they face NAIA #5 Auburn University – Montgomery. TU will seek to move beyond a fourth place TSC regular season finish after posting a 7-3 record in regular season conference play, while going 12-6 overall. Men's soccer was voted fourth (2 first place votes) in the TSC pre season coach's poll.
The Night Hawks received votes in the pre-season NAIA national poll and will face their fair share of top ranked opponents. In 2013, TU will square off against six opponents that enter the season with national recognition, including four in the Top 25 (AUM, #2 University of Mobile, #21 Southern Wesleyan College & #24 St. Thomas University).
A senior class with three consecutive post season appearances on their resume leads TU into a season with high expectations. Senior captains-goalkeeper Andi Hoffer (Ingolstadt, Germany) and defender Steven Conway (Tralee, Ireland)-along with four year starters-forward Rowan Liburd (Croydon, England) and defender Joe McDowell (London, England)-are four of the six returning starters in a roster that returns sixteen players from last year's squad. One of the top recruiting classes in the history of the program will look to fill the voids left by graduation. Four sophomore transfers will be counted on to impact the roster right from the start; midfielder Lyle Gifford (Bryan College), forward Jarrod Ingram (Florida Atlantic University), midfielder Joseph Lopez (Hillsborough Community College) and midfielder Patrick Ramdial (Florida International University). Three gifted freshman are also a part of this new talented class; forward Severin Abt (Schwaebisien, Germany), midfielder Antoine Akoure (Gabon, Africa) and goalkeeper Alex Condell (Athy, Ireland).
Tomorrow night's game against GGC will be available via Internet Live Stream at http://client.stretchinternet.com/client/ggc.portal# .
