SUNYAC Champs or Bust

Last season the men's soccer team finished with an overall record of 7-8-3 and a SUNYAC record of 3-4-2 which did not qualify them for the SUNYAC tournament. The 2009 season did not go as planned for the Blue Devils due in part to some key injuries.

"Last year had a lot to do with injuries" said Coach P.J. Gondek. "We had two big injuries to Ryan O'Donnell, who is a three time all conference player and Matt Grabowski who was our leading scorer going into last season."

O'Donnell, a senior forward, was forced to miss the entire season due to injury. The injuries left the team without two of their major scorers. Peter Dagel, a forward entering his senior year, did a great job of stepping up and scoring a lot of goals as expected. But it was a lot easier for teams to focus on shutting down one elite goal scorer than three goal scoring threats in the lineup.

This season the Blue Devils will have their key players at full strength and look to dominate the regular season and go deep into the playoffs.

"We all expect to win this year; everyone is on the same page. Our number one goal is to win the conference," said senior defender Stephen Ahern. "We are older, more experienced and have more talent so I expect nothing but the championship by the end of the season."

As a matter of fact this will be the largest group of seniors Coach Gondek has ever had on one team in 11 years. There are six seniors and nine juniors on the 2010 roster, so the team will not have to worry about its experience level.

Over the off season, the team did a lot of interval training and sprints to prepare for the tough multi-game weekends ahead of them. The Blue Devils also had conditioning training with head hockey coach Jeff Meredith.

In addition to their rigorous physical training for the season, Coach Gondek decided to focus on more team building exercises heading into the 2010 season. The team went to the campus lodge and did the ropes course together. They also had a team barbeque during the first couple of weeks at Fredonia.

"We have really big expectations for the season and are going to keep working for each other to make it a very successful year," said sophomore mid-fielder Ryan Smith. "Our number one priority is to go out every game and give it 100 percent for the full 90 minutes."

Smith, who was last year's SUNYAC rookie of the year, will be looking to continue his success and help his team to a SUNYAC championship along with a number of his decorated teammates. O'Donnell and Dagel have each earned all-conference honors three times and senior mid-fielder Eli Lubberts is a two time all-conference player.

Other notable players include, senior mid-fielder Brett Wysocki, senior forward John Grabowski and senior defender Jack Flechaus. However, the team will rely on all players to achieve their dream of winning the SUNYAC championship.

"We darn better be in the playoffs," Gondek said. "I am hopeful that we are going to be at the top of the conference."

The Blue Devils play Medaille on Wednesday, September 8 at 7 pm. Fredonia will also be hosting the Clarion classic starting September 10. They will be playing Baldwin Wallace on Friday at 7 pm and John Caroll on Saturday at 5 pm.