USC Salkehatchie 2012 Men’s Soccer Preview
The 2012 USC Salkehatchie Men’s Soccer team will have to step it up big time if it wants to compare favorably with the 2011 edition of the team. Last year the Indians went 10-5-4 and fought their way to the NJCAA Region X Championship semi-final round before having their season come to an end. “Competing in the later rounds of the tournament gave last year’s freshmen some valuable experience,” according to USC Salkehatchie Head Soccer Coach Bill Glass. “The veterans of that campaign will be a steadying influence on our incoming players when the going gets tough in 2012.”
The Indians will bring back 13 players from last year’s squad for 2012 and they will be joined by a strong group of recruits. As usual there will be a mix of out-of-state, in-state and international players. Returning players who hail from out of state include
forwards Robbie Bacon of Midway, Georgia; Esteban Cobo of Jacksonville, Florida, and Ibrahima Seck of College Park, Georgia. Defenders Wayne Preddie of Baton Rouge, Lousiana, and Noe Guerrier of Orange Park, Florida, are also coming back to Salk after spending the summer at their homes. Returning international players are Jose
Berbessi of Medellin, Columbia, Elijah Ukpong of Lagos, Nigeria, and Nas Mugozi of Coventry, England. Swelling the ranks of returning players will be a contingent of 6 athletes from our home state of South Carolina. Adan Mundo of Ehrhardt and Raul Gallegos of Aiken play up top for the Indians. Daniel Hernandez of Johns Island and Gino Lucarelli of Goose Creek will return to man the defense, and Tucker Hamilton of Charleston and Jarrel Smalls of Mount Pleasant will be looking to improve on the excellent seasons they both had in the Indians midfield last year.
South Carolina will also contribute a majority of the new recruits who will joining the team in 2012. The Palmetto state freshmen contingent will include forwards Cameron Bartlett of Aiken, Cody Brown of Bamberg, Raoul Hunt of Goose Creek, Dayne Jackson of Union, and Paul Macleod of Greenville. These players will be supported from the midfield by Dominique Hooks of Moncks Corner. The Indians will also feature two defenders from their home state: Drew Derrick of Aiken and Johnny Pierce. A South Carolinian, Scott Brummel of Bamberg, will help mind the net for the Indians.
As usual the USC Salkehatchie soccer program will be drawing in students from out of state. Forward Mamadou Ka of Atlanta, Georgia, will be joined by midfielders Remy
Anacreon of Oakland Park, Florida, Sandre Duncan of Lauderhill, Florida, David Jaramillo of Pompano Beach, Florida, Schneider Peralte of Lauderdale Lakes, Florida, and Elu Saif of Brooklyn, NY. Joining the vaunted Indians defense from out of state will be goal keeper Dieusel Jeannot of North Lauderdale, Florida, and backs Odane Smith of Lauderdale Lakes, Florida, Nicholas Walters of St. Catherine, Jamaica, and O’Neil Whyte of English Harbor, Antigua.
The Indians will have a large group of players on hand when preseason camp begins August 6 including a large number from South Carolina. This is in part due to the positive reputation the USC Salkehatchie Soccer program has earned around the state and also due to the fact that two South Carolina colleges recently reacted to budget cuts for the coming school year by axing their soccer programs. This left many men’s soccer players around the state scrambling to find a soccer home for the fall. USC Salkehatchie made the decision to accommodate these players. “I am used to working with a big group, and in any case, guys need to get used to being on a large squad and having to compete for playing time,” according to Glass, “so after two years when our soccer players graduate from USC Salkehatchie, they will be prepared to move on to a four-year college and do the things in practice and in preseason that impress coaches.”
Preseason also offers the opportunity for Salkehatchie soccer players to impress coaches at four year colleges. Last year 9 Indians soccer players graduated and 9 received offers to continue playing soccer at four-year colleges. Most of those offers came from coaches of teams that USC Salkehatchie plays in preseason. These coaches get familiar with the Indians players seeing each player twice in two years. This makes their job of scouting a lot easier.
For 2012, the Indians will kick off the preseason on August 15 with a trip just down the road to Hardeeville, SC, and a match with Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD), a perennial NAIA powerhouse. The next day, Salkehatchie will play Brewton-Parker College, another Georgia NAIA member. Next, the team will play several NCAA D-II’s, including USC Aiken on August 18, Francis Marion University on August 20, and Newberry College on August 22. “These games are scheduled on the theory first espoused by Friedrich Nietzsche,” according to Glass. “That which does not kill us makes us stronger,” wrote Nietzsche. The Indian will find out if a tough preseason makes for success in the regular season when Wake Tech comes to Allendale on August 25 to meet the Indians in their season opener. “After 5 games against big four-year colleges,” said Glass, “I am sure that our guys will be looking forward to finally playing a junior college like us!”
The Indians schedule is posted on the team website. Supporters are encouraged to check the website and the Indians BlogSpot (http://uscsalkindians.blogspot.com) for last minute changes in game times or venues before starting out on a trip to a match.
