Men’s soccer hoping early tests lead to later success


Defender Marvin Hezel (#5) is one of the team's captains for 2015 and a staple in the Panthers' defense. Photo by Jeff Camarati.

Defender Marvin Hezel (#5) is one of the team’s captains for 2015 and a staple in the Panthers’ defense. Photo by Jeff Camarati.

By Joel Delgado ’12 MS ’17 

For Head Coach Scott Calabrese and the men’s soccer team, the 2014 season – Calabrese’s first at the helm of the program – was an adjustment period as they sought to implement a new philosophy of play.

That won’t be the case this season.

“That adjustment period is now over,” Calabrese says. “We’re in a place right now where the team is more settled. We’re more understanding of each other and what we want to do as a team.”

And Calabrese wasted no time testing that notion this season, scheduling a pair of road games against Atlantic Coast Conference powerhouses North Carolina – ranked No. 5 in the country – and Wake Forest.

Although FIU lost both games, the Panthers proved they could compete with some of the best teams in the country. A late penalty kick gave UNC the edge in a 1-0 loss and after taking an early lead over Wake Forest, the Panthers surrendered three unanswered goals in a 3-2 defeat.

The Panthers now host Fairfield for their home opener at FIU Soccer Stadium on Sept. 3, looking for their first win of the season. Kickoff is slated for 7 p.m. and admission is free for FIU students with general admission tickets starting at $5.

CHANGING THE ENDING

Of the team’s nine losses last season, seven of them were by just a single goal margin. Adding to the pain of a string of close losses, a number of those deciding goals were surrendered in the final minutes of play.

“If games were 70 minutes long, we would have won about 10 games last season,” Calabrese says. “Being in those situations and experiencing the pressures associated with it is part of the process. As our team matures, I think we will be able to turn those losses into results.”

For the players returning this season, the sting that came with losing games in the waning moments is still fresh in their minds.

“It’s something that’s been bothering us the whole summer,” senior midfielder Daniel Gonzalez says. “We’re coming in hungry, more focused and with a different attitude. You have to fight that lack of concentration late in games and we feel we won’t have that problem this year.”

REPLACING ALBRECHT

The Panthers will also need to look for ways to make up for the loss of leading goal scorer Quentin Albrecht, who scored a team-high eight goals in his senior season at FIU.

Now that he is gone and a preseason slate that saw goals come from several different players, Calabrese is more concerned with the ball finding the back of the net frequently rather than how they’re scored or from whom.

In the preseason, the Panthers received goals from a handful of different players and both goals in the loss to Wake Forest came from defenders playing their first season in a Panthers uniform.

Junior defender Marvin Hezel, the team captain, will be looked to for leadership while midfielders Donald Tomlinson and Daniel Gonzalez could help the Panthers continue their attack-minded and possession-oriented approach on the pitch.

“We’re looking for contributions form multiple players to fill that void that was created when Quentin left,” Calabrese says. “It will be more of a team effort from that perspective.”

For more information on FIU men’s soccer, go to FIUSports.com