LIBERTY PREVIEW: Men’s soccer

By Chris Lang
Sports writer
Published: August 29, 2008

A TRIP TO the NCAA men’s soccer tournament was a nice accomplishment for Liberty. But if the Flames want to make such forays into the postseason commonplace, they’ll have to quickly replace the memories of the 2007 season with a hunger to return to the tournament in 2008.

“Even though you want to stroll down memory lane, we need to realize those are bygone memories, and instead, use them as a blueprint for this season, grow them into success this season, and take another step forward,” LU coach Jeff Alder said.

The next logical step forward would be to win a match in the NCAA postseason. The Flames lost their opener at Loyola (Md.) last November. Winning in the NCAAs will always be difficult for a Big South representative. Despite being ranked regionally nearly all of last season and winning the conference tournament title, LU was still sent on the road for round one.

THE STANDOUT: Midfielder Joshua Boateng became the first Flame ever named to the preseason watch list for the Hermann Award, given to college soccer’s top player at the end of the season. The senior, who transferred from Virginia Tech, started all 20 matches last year and tallied five goals and five assists. He was far from the team’s top offensive option—that honor went to Adrian Bumbut, who has graduated. But his savvy from the midfield position should give LU an offensive boost.

BREAKOUT CANDIDATE: Forward Justin Willoughby had a goal and an assist in last year’s Big South tournament, scoring the game-winner in the come-from-behind victory over UNC Asheville and assisting on a goal in the championship match win over Radford.

With Bumbut gone, Willoughby’s role in 2008 will be elevated.

“Justin had his coming-out party at the Big South tournament last season,” Alder said. “We feel like his best soccer is still ahead of him.”

QUESTION MARK: Will Liberty’s highly touted freshman class develop in time to help the team down the stretch? With seven true frosh and three of the redshirt variety on the squad, Alder is counting on the group to develop quickly and be contributors by October.

LOOKING BACK: Liberty went 13-5-2 last season and 5-1 in the Big South. LU beat Radford 2-1 in the conference tournament championship and ended its season with a 2-0 loss at Loyola (Md.) in the first round of the College Cup.

THE SCHEDULE: The full slate can be found here.

The season opens tonight (Friday) with a 7 o’clock match against Bluefield College. Highlights include a Sept. 2 visit from Atlantic Sun champion Campbell and a Sept. 16 home match with traditional ACC power North Carolina.
LU will travel to Charlottesville to face Virginia Oct. 7.

THE CONFERENCE: Winthrop is the Big South favorite … barely. The Eagles edged Liberty by one point in preseason polling. Those two squads will meet Sept. 26 in Rock Hill, S.C. Coastal Carolina, which was picked to finish third, visits Lynchburg Oct. 4.