Twenty-eight Mountaineer MSOC players (14 returnees and 14 recruits) will report to campus on Monday, July 30 for a week of rigorous training with their team captains in preparation for the official opening of fall camp on Wednesday, August 8. Just four days later (August 11) the team will hold its annual Black & Gold Scrimmage in preparation for a friendly exhibition contest at Radford at 6 PM on Wednesday, August 15th.
The team experienced significant attrition following the 2017 season with a minimum of 12 players leaving due to graduation, transfer or simply hanging up their boots. The most significant losses include three graduates (defender Jeremy Tshongo of Hammersly, Western Australia, defender John Walrath of Raeford, NC and defender Thibaut Arpinon of Nimes, France) along with undergrad junior keeper Jake Agnew of Farmington, MN and senior midfielder Raheem Somersall of Basseterre, St. Kitts. All five were at least part-time starters. As of this post, Agnew's future remains uncertain. Somersall will play his senior season for the Florida Gulf Coast Eagles of the ASUN Conference.
Coach O'Keefe's 2018 recruiting class is said to be near the top of the Sun Belt conference and is composed of a mix of US and international talent. The 2018 team will be exceedingly young, but Coach O'Keefe has been quoted as saying that all of the pieces are now in place to field a very competitive team.
Here is the link to the fall sports streaming schedule.
https://appstatesports.com/news/2023/8/ ... edule.aspx
https://appstatesports.com/news/2023/8/ ... edule.aspx
MSOC set for unofficial start of 2018 season
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asu66
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asu66
- Posts: 26902
- Joined: Tue Jun 27, 2000 1:21 pm
- School: Appalachian State
- Has thanked: 1963 times
- Been thanked: 2016 times
Re: MSOC set for unofficial start of 2018 season
I neglected to mention in the post above that a couple of things are clear.
* Our eventual player rotation will be heavy on true freshmen and
sophomores. At this snapshot in time, we appear to have one R-Freshman, nine
sophomores, one junior and three seniors returning from last season. Our team will
depend heavily on Jr Mid/F Austin Hill of Graham (NC) So Alamance; Sr Def Ian Bennett
of Wilmington (NC) New Hanover; Sr Mid Felix Kollmannthaler of Frankfurt, Germany
and home-standing R-Sr GK Jake Chasteen of Watauga High to anchor the playing
rotation.
* Clearly Coach O'Keefe isn't going to have 28 players in his rotation. Some of our
14 freshmen will, in the end, be redshirted.
* Our eventual player rotation will be heavy on true freshmen and
sophomores. At this snapshot in time, we appear to have one R-Freshman, nine
sophomores, one junior and three seniors returning from last season. Our team will
depend heavily on Jr Mid/F Austin Hill of Graham (NC) So Alamance; Sr Def Ian Bennett
of Wilmington (NC) New Hanover; Sr Mid Felix Kollmannthaler of Frankfurt, Germany
and home-standing R-Sr GK Jake Chasteen of Watauga High to anchor the playing
rotation.
* Clearly Coach O'Keefe isn't going to have 28 players in his rotation. Some of our
14 freshmen will, in the end, be redshirted.
If it happens to the Apps, it happens to me!