Dave Scarnato
Staff Writer

As of deadline, the Marywood Men’s Soccer team is 5-1 before CSAC play begins. It seems as though early on the Pacers are determined to achieve CSAC gold this year.

Head Coach Dawson Driscoll and assistant Peter Schmidt must be extremely proud of their team in the early going of the 2010 season. Last year, the Pacers finished a disappointing 7-9-2. They certainly have patched up the wounds from last year and turned on the jets for a successful start in 2010.

Brett Megee has extreme confidence that this year will be a great year for Marywood soccer. He said: “We expect to have a winning record and we expect to win the conference and qualifying for the NCAA Tournament, which is done by winning the CSAC Championship.”

I always say that in order for a team to be successful, there must be strong leadership from the upperclassmen. Seniors Joshua Hicks and Billy Gordon hold the captaincy title and seem to have the team composed so far in the season.

Megee continued: “The Captains, Josh Hicks and Billy Gordon have done a great job leading the team by example. They lead by example in practices and in games and they carry themselves off the field in a way in which the rest of our team follows.”

Another aspect for a successful soccer team is the goalkeeper. This is where sophomores Matthew Roman and Shane Quinn come in. Roman is from Williamsport and Quinn is from Clarks Summit. As of deadline, the keepers have a combined 23 saves and a combined goal average of 7. They have made 23 saves combined. Opponents have a goals
average of 13 with 22 saves. In the goalkeeping department, the Pacers so far have the upper hand, making the team even more confident.

The final aspect for a successful team is the freshman class. They must be successful early on in their collegiate careers. After all, they are the future of the program. After this season, the team will lose eight seniors to graduation. Now is a great time for these freshmen to show the coaching staff and the upperclassmen that they know how to play. With help from the upperclassmen, the freshmen can hopefully continue to play well for not only this season, but the future.

Megee stated: “All of the freshmen are doing very well so far. I have been very impressed with their attitude in practice and in games and they all support the team concept.  Christian Lawlor has been a consistent starter as a striker and he scored a hat trick against Penn State Altoona and was named CSAC Player of the Week which is fantastic for any player, let alone a freshman.”

The freshmen class consists of Matthew Homishak, Christian Lawlor, Garnaweh Nyorkin, James Geraghty, Josh Soto, Matthew Pancoast, Paul Fedorczyk, and Tim James. The sophomores are goalies Matthew Roman and Shane Quinn, along with Steven Bergmann, Richard Fifi, Ryan Jones, Chad Friend, Brandon Ritter, and Drew Robson. The lone junior is Brett Megee. The senior class is Chris Rodzewich, Billy Gordon, Lee Powers, Andrew Tarantino, Sean O’Day, Greg Dustin, Mike Pilla, and Brian Wasser.

CSAC games began September 25 with an away game at Philadelphia Biblical University.

Home games will be played 10/2 against non-conference Berkely College, 10/13 against Keystone College, 10/19 against Baptist Bible College, and 10/30 against Cabrini College.

There are plenty of opportunities for you to come out and support your Pacers and I urge you to do so. After all, the team is win- ning, playing well, and are a joy to watch.