As many of you know, my name is Francesco and I am a senior going into this upcoming fall soccer season. It’s my fourth and final year here in Milwaukee, and I know everyone surrounding the program is extremely excited for this upcoming season! With a very good mix of older players in their third and fourth seasons like myself, and a good chunk of new faces in the locker room as well, I know we have a team that can challenge for the Horizon League title and then some this 2018 year.
We’ve been after it since the first day of August as a team, with captain’s training starting up very early this year. Again, this is a time where we as captain’s get the team together without the coaches prior to preseason to play some small-sided games. We got some touches, got to know a lot of the new guys, and overall it was a very enjoyable time where we could just play without the pressures of official preseason.
After about a week and a half of captain’s training, it was time to get the real deal started. First things first, fitness testing on day one with some small-sided games. The coaches got after it right from the start, which is just what we needed. After a grueling preseason, with multiple days where we trained two, maybe three times, some heavy humidity and darting sunshine, along with a few preseason matches to get into form, we were ready for opening weekend in Macomb, Ill., against the Western-Illinois Leathernecks.
Last season we took three points from the Leathernecks on opening day at Engelmann Stadium, so we knew they were going to want to avenge that result. However, the game was on a Sunday late afternoon and they had played two days prior in Oakland, which was taken to double overtime. We knew we would be fresh, while a double-overtime on opening day is nothing but heavy on the legs no doubt, so we were looking forward to hopefully using that to our advantage. It was hot, and temperatures were in the late 90s and early 100s, with the humidity so intense the air almost felt sticky. After a rather slow first half, with each team feeling the other out, at the end of the first half sophomore Vuk Latinovich put away a free kick from about 25ish yards out! It was a great strike into the bottom corner, and from there we never looked back. The match ended 4-0 in favour of the Panthers, with additional goals from Alex ‘Whitey’ Sykes, Josh Kaye, and Sean Holmes. It was a fantastic start to the season and led to a happy ride home back to Milwaukee.
Next up was the University of Dayton Invitational, where we were scheduled to meet up with both the University of Dayton Flyers and Ohio State Buckeyes. First up was Dayton on the Friday night, and it being their home opener we knew the atmosphere would be electric. It was something we were all looking forward to, and the build-up to the match was very exciting. The fans were loud, both teams were ready to use the energy to their benefit. Unfortunately, things didn’t go the way we had planned, and we ended up losing the match 2-0. It wasn’t our best performance by any means, but we knew we could be better and we were determined to make things right come Sunday.
Preparation began for Big Ten side Ohio State, and preparation on Saturday consisted of both a pool and video session to help us get ready for the battle. It was another hot and humid day, where again temperatures were reaching the high 90s with the luxury of high humidity yet again. However, we as a team were more than eager to make things right in terms of our performance. We started off the game much better and in control, with good possession and dangerous counters as well. Finally, our play paid off and Evan Conway scored a brilliant flick on goal from a Latinovich cross and we were one-nil up! It was well deserved, and we carried that goal with us the rest of the match to win 1 nil. It was a great win that everyone contributed to in good style.
Our next matches come at home finally, against Valparaiso on Friday night and University of Pennsylvania on Sunday, both at Engelmann stadium at 7PM. We will continue to work hard and make each session and match count! Thanks for tuning in and we hope to see you at our home opening weekend!
Frankie
