Coming off a successful first season under head coach David Casper, the men’s soccer team began their spring schedule in preparation for the fall.
With seniors now moved on from the team, now is the time for those remaining to show how they have improved since the regular season ended back in November.
For Casper, these spring matches give him the opportunity to see what players are capable of and to build chemistry.
“It has been an interesting spring just because we don’t have many players,” said Casper. “I think we’re a tight knit group. We are more of a family than I think we were in the fall.”
With new recruits not coming until August, players will have more than their fair chances of opportunity to play in the spring.
Health will also play a factor as the Bucs have little depth to the team this spring. For the Bucs, this spring will be used to try a new system.
Casper described the system as being more attacking.
The matches played so far have given the team a chance to experiment with it on the field and has given them a chance to see how it looks on film. Casper feels with this new system it will create more chances to score, something the Bucs needed to improve on from last season.
“We are creating chances and opportunities,” said Casper. “We just need the final product.”
The final product for the Bucs will hopefully lead to consistently scoring in games, something the Bucs struggled with last fall. Three of their losses last season they did not score.
Casper acknowledges that the team lost key players but likes what he has seen so far from players such as John Lucchesi (Johnson City, Tennessee) and Merveil Bilombia (Tours, France). Both played a lot this past season and will be entering their senior year in the fall to help the Bucs land a top spot in the conference.
