The Bucs men’s soccer team has a new head coach at the helm–David Casper.
David Casper
(Contributed / ETSU Bucs)
Casper comes from Kentucky where he was an assistant coach for six years. This past season the Bucs struggled to go 11-9 on the season. Most of the Bucs’ losses came at home, where they typically have defended well prior to last season.
“I feel like the guys are excited. The guys have done a good job to the push we have been demanding,” said Casper. “I think right now we need to improve our fitness base for next season. The style of play we are going to do is uptempo. We are going to need to be thinner than we are at right now.”
“We have to be able to control the pace–know when to go, when not to go. There’s a certain time for each of those,” said Casper.
On Saturday, the Bucs faced two opponents under Casper. First, they faced Milligan which ended in a tie (0-0).
“Milligan sat back and made it difficult for us. We were not sharp enough to finish our chances…Both teams were a different test,” said Casper. “Coming into these games, I gave the guys three things I wanted us to accomplish: play forward when we could, win the transition battle and have a shutout. I thought we accomplished all three of those.”
Against the University Cumberlands, the Bucs won 2-0.
“The University Cumberlands try to play us a little more straight up, and we were able to get some goals,” said Casper.
The Bucs will be losing a lot of veterans coming into next season under Casper, though the team is still willing to prepare by learning under their new coach and seem willing to soak up any information he has for them.
“Short term goals: I need to get the program going. I still need to hire a staff, as well as finish recruiting for 2018 and 2019 classes,” said Casper. “Long-term goals: I want to win the conference, be in the top 25 and be in the NCAA tournament. That’s where this program can be.”
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