Men's Soccer Hits The Pitch For Preseason Camp

Photo by: Joe Murphy

Aug 09, 2017 | Men's Soccer

The Tigers begin workouts under fourth-year head coach Richard Mulrooney

MEMPHIS, Tenn. – The University of Memphis men's soccer season is officially underway as the Tigers began their preseason workouts Wednesday morning. The day began with a fitness test on the track and ended with a full practice on the Park Avenue Campus.

The Memphis roster boasts 26 players including 10 freshmen and three transfers. The Tigers are led by six seniors and four juniors as they enter into the fifth season of American Athletic Conference play. Head coach Richard Mulrooney has an immense amount of excitement heading into his fourth season at the helm of the Memphis program.

"The first day is always full of excitement as you finally get to see the players you have been recruiting for the past year or two wearing our school colors," said Mulrooney. "Then you get to see your returners and view how they have grown and improved on and off the field over the past three months. And you finally get back on the field doing what you enjoy most with your staff and that is coaching and teaching!"

The 2017 squad is the largest squad under Mulrooney's direction and eight of the 26 players are international student-athletes, also the most for Mulrooney. Position breakdowns for the team are three goalkeepers, four forwards, 11 midfielders, and eight defenders. Here's a look into each of those position groups.

Goalkeepers
Memphis returners a pair of goalkeepers in Jake Leeker and Erik Furseth while welcoming in freshman Mitchel Foster. Leeker started in all 17 matches last season for the Tigers and finished with a goals against average of 1.46 and 74 saves. Furseth saw limited action in the win over Houston Baptist on September 18.

Foster, a native of Temecula, Calif., was named first-team all-league, second-team all-league, and the league's Most Valuable Player while at Linfield Christian School.

Coach Mulrooney on the goalkeepers
I am rest assured with the goalkeepers we have on this squad. Jake's a fifth-year season and Erik we believe gained a lot of experience this past spring. With Mitchel, we recruited him for a reason. We think it's a good mixture that I'm comfortable with and I can go to sleep at night knowing that all three of them could have an opportunity to play this year.

Forwards
Mulrooney's group of forwards comprises of a pair of upperclassmen and a pair of freshmen. Chandler Klemm and Mason Morise both are entering into their third seasons as Tigers and this year, Morise will be transitioning more into a forward after playing two years as a midfielder. Alex Bruce and Brantley Bice join Klemm and Cantele up top and are expected to make solid contributions to the 2017 team.

Bruce helped lead his Texans Soccer Academy Team to a National Championship this summer and in 2016 at Tompkins High School, he scored 22 goals with 12 recorded assists. Bice's high school career at Southmoore was highlighted with a program record 86 goals and 31 assists.

Coach Mulrooney on the forwards
I'm excited about the additions in Brantley Bice and Alex Bruce. We are excited to have Mason turn more into a forward role as he got some quality minutes last season and into the spring. Chandler most definitely will provide us with quality minutes as well up top. It's refreshing knowing that we have depth this year. If someone were to go down, we know that we have the bench this year that can step in at any time.

Midfielders
Jackson Morse, a 2016 AAC All-Rookie Team selection and Top 100 Freshman by TopDrawerSoccer, returns to help lead the midfielders. Morse scored a team-high six goals last year and started in every match. Additional returning midfielders are seniors Alec Velez and Hector Cantele, junior David Zalzman, and sophomores Burke Fahling and Chris Mikus. Zalzman led the team with four assists and combined, the returning midfielders accounted for nine goals last season. Cantele is making the transition into a wing player from being a forward.

Memphis welcomes four freshman midfielders and a graduate transfer. Charles Blankenship, a graduate of East Tennessee State, will conclude his NCAA soccer career this season with the Tigers. Bryant Huerta, Edgar Alaniz, Luke Biasi, and Zac Zitoli are the four freshman midfielders and all are expected to make contributions this year.

Coach Mulrooney on the midfielders
Overall, this should be the most complete midfield we've ever had. I think we have wingers on the side that can attack, one-on-one abilities to get crosses and shots off. We have guys in the middle of the field that can keep possession offensively and can make tackles defensively.

Defenders
This season's group of defenders is composed of primarily underclassmen. Carlos Hurtado is the lone senior of the group and Ian Story, a junior transfer from Mississippi Gulf Coast CC this past spring, will first see the field for Memphis this fall.

Adam Bruce, a sophomore, is the only other defender with a significant amount of game experience for the Tigers. Aaron Osborne, another sophomore, saw limited minutes in 2016.

Marcus Brooks, Justyn Thomas, and Jackson Brady are the three freshmen defenders and Ben Roberts is a sophomore transfer from Mississippi College. The Tigers are looking for players to step up into the rolls left by former Tigers Jordan Klipsch and Kenneth Kauker who graduated last season.

Coach Mulrooney on the defenders
Defenders are probably the biggest overhaul we have. We obviously lost two senior center backs last year. We lost our right back due to transferring. With having said that, I am very comfortable with the pieces we brought in. There is probably going to be a learning curve with it, but at the end of the day, they are players that I know can take on this role.

The 2017 regular season begins August 25 at Belmont before returning to the Mike Rose Soccer Complex on August 27 for a match against UAB at 5 p.m. Memphis will compete in two home exhibition matches on the Park Avenue Campus against UAH (August 15) and Jefferson College (August 19). Admission is always free for home Memphis soccer matches. Follow the Tigers on Facebook at /MemphisSoccer and Twitter and Instagram at @MemphisMSoccer.