Success can be a blessing and a curse. In the sports world
success can be a good thing for obvious reasons: builds team
chemistry, attracts fans and drives a team to do better.
Unfortunately success can be like a curse in that it elevates
expectations and it can place excess pressure on a team.

Last year’s Saint Louis University men’s soccer team was very
successful. So coming into this soccer season, Billiken fans should
expect to see a team that will play well together, a filled
stadium, and a team driven for success.

And while this new version of Billikens men soccer is young,
they are ready to meet the expectations and are ready to alleviate
the pressure.

Oh yeah, that means the success from last season will not be a
curse for this season.

After coming off a very successful 2002 campaign that featured a
senior-laden lineup, the Saint Louis men’s soccer team is ready to
duplicate, if not surpass, last season’s achievements.

If that is to happen, they will have to beat a 15-4-2 record
overall, a 7-2-1 conference record, and go farther than the 3rd
round of the NCAA tournament. Lofty goals, but remember success is
a blessing.

This years men’s team features returning starters: senior Andy
Pusateri, senior Nick Gannon, senior Kevin Wickart, sophomore
Cooper McKee, sophomore Danny Wynn, sophomore Andrew Moses, and
junior goalkeeper Martin Hutton.

This year’s roster also features more than a dozen freshman,
almost half the team’s roster.

Even though the team is young, that doesn’t mean they can’t be
successful.

This year’s schedule is one of the toughest in the nation and
contains a very formidable conference schedule.

The team opens up with exhibitions on Aug. 15, 19 and 23,
against Loyola, Southwest Missouri State and Notre Dame, all to be
played here at Hermann Stadium.

The team then goes on a four-game road trip with contests
against Akron, Virginia, Clemson and Furman.

Virginia and Furman were both top 25 teams last year, so those
games should be very good indicators as to how the team is coming
along.

Saint Louis then hosts Florida International at home, before
opening up their conference schedule. The team travels to Charlotte
on Sept. 20, before coming back to St. Louis for a nonconference
game here at home versus Western Illinois.

Then the next two games will be at Hermann Stadium with the
Billikens pitted against Louisville and Marquette on Sept. 27 and
Oct. 1, respectively. The next two games are road games, with the
team traveling to Greenville, S.C. to take on East Carolina
University, then to Chicago to take on DePaul University.

The team is then home for a Saturday night game, on Oct. 11,
when they take on South Florida.

Another two game road trip is next with a conference game
against Cincinnati, followed by a nonconference game against
Indiana in Bloomington.

Just like the previous two games the team will play a conference
game and a nonconference game back-to-back this time versus Memphis
and Bradley at home.

The team then takes on UAB in the last game of the season on the
road, Nov. 8, and then will head to Memphis for the Conference USA
tournament, Nov. 13-16.

Despite youth, a tough schedule, and the accomplishments of the
teams that have come before them, there is no reason the 2003 Saint
Louis University men’s soccer team can’t be successful. And in the
end, chances are that success will only be a blessing.