In the upcoming 2004 season, the Saint Louis University men’s
soccer team and head coach Dan Donigan are looking to chase down
their eighth consecutive Conference USA title, but this year with
older legs. Experience always proves beneficial; yet, it was the
youth of the squad that ended up being some of the strongest
competitors of last year’s team. Surely, though, it won’t hurt that
their game is a year more mature.
In 2003, Donigan fielded a squad composed mainly of 17 freshmen
alongside only three seniors. The youth of the SLU team was
originally expected to be a faltering point, but the Billikens
managed to come away with a 15-4-3 record and the C-USA crown.
Donigan will open the season with seven of his 2003 starters on the
field.
“Our maturity will have a great positive impact. We will still
be very young and very similar to last year, and have very high
expectations,” Donigan said.
Among the lost starters include the three seniors who anchored
the SLU defense.
Sweeper Kevin Wickart, along with backs Nick Gannon and Andy
Pusateri are all lost to graduation.
Gannon, who was selected as an All-Conference player twice,
along with Pusateri brought speed and marking ability to the
Billiken back line. Wickart served as the base of the defensive
unit, but missed six matches with a leg injury.
The team’s only other loss was sophomore Cooper McKee–a 2003
third team All-Conference midfielder who transferred to Stanford
after playing two seasons in Saint Louis.
With graduation leaving a gap at defense Donigan’s recruiting
campaign addressed these apparent needs by signing 6-foot-3-inch
center back Brett Branan from Clemson. Branan’s height allows for a
dominating air game. He will fill the hole left by Wickart in the
upcoming season, although, he only has one year of eligibility
remaining.
“Branan brings maturity to the back line. Getting here in
January brings a level of comfort to his game,” Donigan said.
The future of the SLU defense and the top of this year’s
recruiting class can be seen in Tim Ward and Brandon Gasparovic.
Ward comes to St. Louis from Bradenton, Florida, where he was in
residence with the U.S. Under-17 squad.
The left-footed Ward follows in the footsteps of sophomores
Brendan Grazier and John DiRaimondo, who also came to SLU from the
youth National Team. Gasparovic played locally at Christian
Brothers Academy and earned Gatorade Missouri Player of the year
honors.
“Ward plays great long balls and is a tough, hard-nosed
defender. Gasparovic is one of about seven guys in competition for
playing time in the back. He is good on the ball and has good
speed, and reads the game well,” Donigan said.
Sophomore Casey Spiess will likely move to a defensive position,
especially if Donigan changes his formation to include four
defenders instead of the three that were featured in previous
years.
Local goalkeeper Pat Disbennett rounds out the recruiting class,
and will compete for the third spot in the net with the Bills.
“Pat is a top level keeper,” Donigan said. “Great competition at
goal is needed for a team to be a top level program.”
Disbennett’s presence will force senior keepers Martin Hutton
and Jeff Sackman to stay on top of their games or face the
possibility of losing playing time.
Hutton enters the season as the likely starter and had the
majority of playing time last year, but Sackman also made three
starts in the 2003 season.
Junior midfielder Patrick Garcia will return to bolster the
Bills’ roster after missing most of last season with
mononucleosis.
“Patrick is playing with his club team at Nationals.
He is facing good competition and achieving good fitness,”
Donigan said of Garcia.
Garcia joined several Bills on the bench due to injury, but is
the most
likely of the group to earn playingtime. In off-season activity,
four of last year’s fresh faces have spent time on the pitch in
their country’s colors. Grazier played in Brazil with his Olympic
Development Program team earlier in the summer.
DiRaimondo and Will John have played for the American U-20 team
together twice since the end of the season; they have had stints
together in Jamaica in February and Korea in June.
Recently, John has been playing with the team in Ireland;
joining him is new recruit Ward. Vedad Ibisevic, SLU’s leading
scorer and All-American last year, is playing with the Bosnian U-21
squad. Ibisevic represented his country against Slovenia and
Macedonia and is now with the team in France.
“All of them keep maturing,” Donigan said. “Not many college
players get international experience.”
“International experience is something that can’t be replaced.
Playing on the highest level for your country is a great honor and
the speed and quickness of the game will definitely carry over for
all four of us in the upcoming college season,” John said.
“I’ve learned a lot that I’ll be taking back with me, as far as
positioning and how and when to attack as a forward and central
attacking midfielder.”
goals last year, Donigan and the Bills should be prepared to tackle
the tough schedule that lies in front of them. SLU takes on three
perennial powerhouses within eight days when they host Southern
Methodist and Virginia then traveling to New York and facing St.
John’s as part of the Nike Classic. Defending National Champion
Indiana University also comes to visit in St. Louis for a Halloween
showdown.
Despite the tough schedule, Donigan expects the best from his
players.
“Our schedule will always be like that. We need tough games to
get an NCAA bid and a good tournament seed,” Donigan said.
“This year is no different. We need to prepare physically and
mentally.”
Donigan also wants nothing less than to close out SLU’s last
year in C-USA with a bang.
“A lot of teams will have a whole new look. I expect my team to
win the season and [the] tournament. I want to go out on top,”
Donigan said.
John is equally hopeful for the upcoming season.
“I’m extremely excited to get the season going. Every game is a
big game for us as we are one of the favorites to win the NCAA
Championship. The games against all of the powerhouses will be very
competitive games as they were last year, John said.
“I expect to do much better than we did last year and I know
that we can.”
