CAMPBELLSVILLE, Ky. – Tiger Soccer opens the 2016 regular season Saturday with a 1:00 matchup against St. Xavier University at Finley Stadium and Citizens Bank Field.
After a strong finish to their 2015 season the Tigers look to make another run into the NAIA national tournament after a tough loss last year. It was their first time for the Tigers to reach the NAIA championship, along with their first-ever Mid-South Conference regular season title.
Saturday's contest will be the first time that the Tigers and Cougars are squaring off on the pitch. St. Xavier has started the season 1-0, while Saturday's matchup will be the Tigers first game of the Season.
St. Xavier's Outlook:
The Cougars are coming off a 2015 season that saw them lose to Roosevelt University in the Championship game of the Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference (CCAC) and finish with a 13-8-0 overall record.
The Cougars are expecting great things from their returning players. Goalkeeper Frank Valle, who currently holds the career average goals against average of 1.11 has been a mainstay in goal since he came to SXU. Senior defender Farai Tsingano will lead the teams defense while fellow senior Kamil Szczesniak and junior Ricardo Aldape will give the team an advantage in the scoring department.
Campbellsville Outlook:
The Tigers are coming off a record breaking season, losing a heartbreaker to Davenport University in PKs, 5-4, in the Second Round of the NAIA Championship. They finished with an impressive 18-2-2 overall record.
Gonzalo Sapena and
Daniel Nimmo, both first-team All-Conference performers last season, are the spine of the Tigers defense. In addition,
Gabriel DeFreitas,
Ross Lindsay,
Diego Morales and
Alex Higdon are also expected to be leaned on for leadership in 2016.
The Tigers did bring in a very talented defender,
Nathan Heath, who is also expected to make an instant impact.
On the offensive side of the field, CU returns
Guilherme Fanck and
Marco Galeano. Galeano was second on the team with 13 goals and Fanck finished third with 12 scores.
