Falcons Open 2009 Season This Weekend at College of Charleston
9/2/2009 12:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer
Sept. 2, 2009
Game #1
Air Force Falcons vs. College of Charleston Cougars
Friday, Sept. 4, 2009
7:30 p.m. at Charleston, SC
Game #2
Air Force Falcons vs. Furman Paladins
Sunday, Sept. 6, 2009
12 p.m. at Charleston, SC
RECORDS (2008)
Air Force: 5-13
College of Charleston: 11-10
Furman: 11-8-1
RECENT RESULTS
Air Force (0-0): First Game of 2009
College of Charleston (1-0): Def. Coastal Carolina, 4-3 (9/1)
Furman (1-0): Def. Presbyterian, 1-0 (9/1)
COACHES
Doug Hill (USAFA, 1983)
Air Force: 10-25-1, Third Season
Overall: Same
Ralph Lundy (Western Carolina, 1972)
College of Charleston: 255-177-27, 23rd Season
Overall: 385-248-40, 33rd Season
Doug Allison (South Carolina, 1989)
Furman: 193-79-22, 15th Season
Overall: Same
Falcons Open 2009 Season
The Air Force Falcons open their 2009 season this weekend at the NIKE/Aaron Olitsky Memorial Soccer Classic in Charleston, S.C. The Falcons, coming off a 5-13 record a year ago, play the tournament host College of Charleston on Friday, Sept. 4 beginning at 7:30 p.m. (ET). The Cougars, who defeated Coastal Carolina, 4-3 on Tuesday in their season opener, finished the 2008 season with an 11-10 record.
On Sunday, Sept. 6, the Falcons will face Furman University at 12 p.m. The Paladins, who defeated Presbyterian, 1-0, in their season-opener, open the tournament against Old Dominion on Friday.
Head Coach Doug Hill
Doug Hill enters his third season as head coach at Air Force.
Hill, who holds a United States Soccer Federation "A" license, graduated from the Academy in 1983 and was a four-year varsity letterman on the men's soccer team. He was chosen as team captain both his junior and senior seasons. In all four years, Hill helped the Falcons win the Rocky Mountain Intercollegiate Soccer League title. After graduation, he remained at AFA as the assistant soccer coach and a physical education instructor for one year.
Hill left the Academy in 1984 for Dyess AFB, Texas, where he was an instructor navigator in the C-130 aircraft. In addition, he assisted and filled in as the interim head soccer coach for the men's and women's soccer teams at Hardin Simmons University (Texas) from 1986-1988. He also played on the all-Air Force soccer team in 1985 and 1987 and coached the 1986 team.
After eight years away from the Academy, Hill returned as an assistant coach in 1992 and helped guide the Falcons to consecutive trips to the NCAA Tournament in '92 and '93. In 1993, the Falcons advanced to the Final Eight. The 1996 team advanced to the WAC championships after going 14-3-3 during the regular season, while the 1997 squad earned a trip to the NCAA Tourney.
2009 Season Outlook
With 10 starters and 17 letterwinners returning from last season, Air Force head coach Doug Hill has a positive outlook going into the 2009 campaign. Hill, entering his third season in charge of the Falcons, knows he can put several experienced players on the field at any time and brought in a freshman class that has the potential to make a difference.
"It's time for our players to step up and produce this season," said Hill. "We have four guys who have started more than 30 games in their career and five of our sophomores started at least five games last year."
One player that started every game last season is senior goalie Jim Gullo. He led the MPSF last season with 88 saves, including a career-high eight saves on five different occasions. Gullo, who finished sixth in the league with a 1.64 goals-against average, played all but 26 minutes in '08. Junior Patrick Gould, who played the 26 minutes against Sacramento State and New Mexico, also returns after making one save and allowing one goal last year.
"Jim had a really solid season for us last year," Hill said. "He also played well during the spring and should take a lot of confidence into the fall."
The three Falcons that played the most minutes in the field last year return to the Air Force defense. Senior Aaron Eshkenazi, junior John Tilton and sophomore Eric Wilson combined for 52 of a possible 54 starts a year ago. Those three, along with junior Ryan Robinson and sophomore John Melcher, will compete for positions in the back with freshmen also competing for spots.
"The defense should once again be one of our strengths," according to Hill. "I haven't had to change that lineup much the last two years. It's nice that these guys have been able to play alongside each other for so long."
Three of the team's top four returning scorers reside in the midfield. Senior Kevin Rosser leads the way after posting one goal and a team-high five assists for seven points, the second-most on the squad, last year. Sophomore Zach Brinlee exploded onto the scene with six points (two goals and two assists), while fellow sophomore Ben Chavez notched his first collegiate goal against Sacramento State. Junior Kyle Moses returns and seniors Kirk Bingaman and Jared Gomez are each looking for a strong final season.
"We need a little more explosiveness from our midfielders this season," said Hill. "We only scored 10 goals in 18 games last season and the guys in the midfield have to become consistent playmakers for us if we expect to challenge for a league title."
Senior forward Steven Noller led the team with four goals and nine points in 2008. In fact, Noller scored his goals in four consecutive games, the first Falcon to achieve that since Ryan Schaeffer in 1996. Fellow senior Josh Rhynard is the team's top returning career scorer with 17 points (6g, 5a). Hill expects Rhynard to have a standout season putting the ball in the back of the net. Sophomore Garrett Getschow (one assist) played in every game last year.
For the second consecutive season, Hill is very excited about his incoming recruiting class. The class is highlighted by Kevin Durr (Garmisch, Germany) and Zane Dydasco (Honolulu, HI). Durr spent two seasons with the U.S. Under-15 National Team, while Dydasco, who played for the Region IV team for two seasons, led the Prep School in scoring with 16 goals and four assists last season. In addition, Eric Tise (Cumming, GA), Alek Uransel (Libertyville, IL), Cody Felipe (Pukalani, HI) and goalkeepers Mike Mauro (Bristol, CT) and Matt Underwood (Colleyville, TX) join the program as highly-regarded recruits. Tise and Uransel played for the U.S. Soccer Developmental Academy, while Felipe, who played for the Under-15 National Team in 2004 and the Adidas Elite Soccer Program in '07, and Mauro join the Falcons from the USAFA Prep School.
"This is one of the best recruiting classes I have been associated with at Air Force," said Hill, who served as an assistant for 13 years prior to his head coaching appointment. "This class should stack up well against the class of 1993 that went to the Elite 8 at the NCAA playoffs. With players coming from 11 different states as well as Germany, our staff really found some great talent this year. We are also excited to have such fine young men join the Air Force soccer family and, in time, become future leaders of our country. Six of them spent last season at the USAFA Prep School and will bring an important level of maturity to the class."
Three teams that advanced to the 2008 NCAA Tournament, including Sweet 16 team California, and a match-up at Cadet Soccer Stadium against service-academy rival Army highlight the 2009 schedule. The regular season begins on Friday, Sept. 4 against College of Charleston as part of the NIKE/Aaron Olitisky Memorial Classic in Charleston, S.C.
"We are looking forward to a very challenging schedule this fall," said Hill. "Our non-conference schedule should help us prepare to achieve our goal of winning the conference title."
The Falcons will also face Furman in Charleston on Sunday, Sept. 6 before their home opener on Friday, Sept. 11 against Belmont. Dayton, a first-round loser in last season's NCAA Tournament, travels to the Academy on Sunday, Sept. 13. Air Force then hosts the Black Knights from Army on Saturday, Sept. 19. The last time these teams played at USAFA was in the 2006 season opener when Army scored with two seconds remaining in regulation to force a 1-1 tie in front of 3,206 spectators, a Cadet Soccer Stadium regular-season record.
"It is always special to host a service-academy game," Hill said. "The game against Army in `06 was a great game. I expect the same this season and I hope we can fill the stadium again."
The Stanford Nike Classic follows with the Falcons taking on Stanford on Friday, Sept. 25, followed two days later in Berkeley, Calif., against California, which dropped a 2-1 decision to eventual champion Maryland in the NCAA round of 16 last fall. Following a pair of games at the Houston Baptist Tournament (Howard University on Oct. 2 and Houston Baptist on Oct. 4), the non-conference season concludes with a home game against UMKC on Columbus Day, Monday, Oct. 12.
With the addition of Seattle University and Cal-State Bakersfield, the eight-team Mountain Pacific Sports Federation will not play a home-and-home conference slate for the first time since 2003. Air Force opens MPSF play on Friday, Oct. 16 at Sacramento State, and hosts three league games this season, against New Mexico (Friday, Oct. 23), UNLV (Sunday, Oct. 25) and defending MPSF champion Denver (Saturday, Nov. 7). The MPSF Tournament will begin on Thurs., Nov. 12 at Denver, while the 2009 NCAA Tournament opens on Friday, Nov. 20.
