Young men’s soccer team set for opener

Brandon Fahlberg returns for a young men’s soccer team.

Waterville, Maine - The Colby College men’s soccer team used a stingy defense a year ago to make a return to the New England Small College Athletic Conference playoffs under second-year head coach Ewan Seabrook.

The Mules, despite losing some key starters to graduation, will hope for more improvement when the 2015 season begins with an 8 p.m. away game at Maine Maritime Academy on Tuesday. The game will be webcast at http://portal.stretchinternet.com/mma/

Colby will carry 19 first-year players on the 32-man roster. The Mules have just three seniors, four juniors, and six sophomores.

Colby allowed just 13 goals in 16 games, finishing 7-6-3 overall and 3-5-2 in the NESCAC. The
Mules were a respectable 4-2-1 at home and 3-4-2 in road games.

Colby’s defense was among the best in the conference. The Mules were third in the league in conference goals against average (0.85), trailing only national champion Tufts University (0.37) and Middlebury College (0.83).

The Mules saved the best for last a year ago, finishing 2-1-2 in the final five games and allowed only one goal. Colby posted shutouts of Connecticut College (0-0), Hamilton College (0-0), and then won the Colby-Bates-Bowdoin (CBB) title with wins against Bowdoin College (1-0) and Bates College (2-0). The Mules ended the season with a tough 1-0 NESCAC playoff loss at second-seeded Amherst College.

Colby senior captains Tim Stanton and Dan Vogel will lead the young team. Vogel, a midfielder this year, was tied for third in scoring with two goals and two assists, while Stanton added one goal and one assist. Stanton will be in charge of the defense.

Chandler Smith started 15 of Colby’s 16 games on defense and added a pair of goals. Evan Dwyer (1 goal, 2 assists) started in 11 games, Luke Andrews (2 assists) had eight starts in back, and Aaron Liu made six starts. Connor Benjamin also saw time on defense and sophomore Andrew D’Anieri will look for playing time.

Seabrook recruited some tall first-year backs. Garrett Dickey (6-foot-7), Jacob Tower (6-6), and Cam Clouse (6-3) give the Mules size on defense with Stanton (6-3). Jansen Aoyoma and Grady Jendzejec are two other first-year defenders.

The Mules have three first-year goalkeepers in Ben Hartheimer, Dan Carlson, and Tyler Mulberry. Sophomore John Pappas played 267 minutes in goal last year, but will move to the forward line to help Colby’s offense.

Goal scoring will be the difference maker for the Mules. Colby could have approached nine or 10 wins last year with some timely goals. The Mules had the two 0-0 overtime ties and also lost three 1-0 games.

Brandon Fahlberg (1 goal, 2 assists), Ben Ach, and Aidan Black return to the team and will play forward spots. The Mules will look for goals from first-years Kyle Douglas, Wyett MacDonald, Andrew Mitchell, Jeff Rosenberg, Max Brown, and Cole Turissini.

Vogel moves into the midfield along with returner Fred Randall (1 goal). First-years Richie Gutierrez, David Howarth, Jefferey Lin, Christian Arita, and Lucas Pereira will look to make an immediate impact.

After the Maine Maritime opener, Colby heads into a brutal two-game road trip to Massachusetts. The Mules play at defending national champion and top-ranked Tufts on Saturday at 3 p.m. Colby then heads to 22nd-ranked Wheaton College for a 2 p.m. game Sunday.