FIGHTING TIGER MEN’S SOCCER EYES SUCCESSFUL 2006 SEASON

The bar has been set extremely high for the 2006 edition of the SUNY Cobleskill men’s soccer team. Coming off a 2005 campaign that saw the Fighting Tigers post one of the best turnaround seasons in the country with a 10-6-1 overall record including the team’s first post season appearance since 2000 and the program’s first play-off win since 1999, this year’s squad faces major expectations. As his team prepares for the season, Co-Mountain Valley Conference Coach-of-the-Year Rob Szmarz’s squad features seven returning letter winners including a trio of All-Mountain Valley Conference/All-NJCAA Region III selections to lead the way.

“We think that it is important to start every season off with a reasonable goal,” said the fourth-year head coach. “The past three years our goal has been to make it to the Region III Play-offs. We accomplished that goal last season and now we are looking to build upon that success and go to the next level as a program.”

Leading the way for the Fighting Tigers will be a talented trio of All-Mountain Valley Conference/All-Region III selections: senior defender Josh Cookfair, Scotia, NY, Schalmont High School, senior midfielder Gilbert Francillon, Brooklyn, NY, Midwood High School, and senior forward Hugh Campbell, Bronx, NY, Evander Childs High School. On the field, Cookfair anchored the Cobleskill defense in 2005 usually guarding the opponent’s number one scoring option while scoring a goal and passing out three assists on the season, Francillon displayed a well rounded game with six goals and eight assists while Campbell paced the team in scoring with eight goals and six assists during the campaign.

Offensively the Cobleskill attack will receive a boost upfront at the forward spots from a pair of Section II standout freshmen recruits as the section’s all-time leading goal scorer Austin Standhart, Schoharie, NY, Middleburgh High School, and high scoring Aaron Aiken, Hartford, NY, Hartford High School, who holds the Section II Record for most goals in a single season, will team together after finding the net a combined 233 times during their prep careers. The Fighting Tiger midfield will also receive some help from All-State freshman Greg Klopfer, Voorheesville, NY, Voorheesville High School, a renowned distributor of the ball and from freshman Essaha Jallow, Bronx, NY, Dewitt Clinton High School, who brings with him a well rounded game after playing the summer with the Brooklyn Knights in the Premier Development League (PDL). 

Defensively the Fighting Tigers will rely heavily on the experience of senior Christian Velasquez, Woodside, NY, Francis Lewis High School, and senior Phil Venditti, Voorheesville, NY, Voorheesville High School, a transfer from NCAA Division I Siena College. Directing the defense from the goalmouth this season will be freshman Abdou Seck, Bronx, NY, Dewitt Clinton High School, whose agility and athleticism should be a great asset to the program.

With seven returning starters from 2005 and a host of talented newcomers, coach Szmarz sees something different with this year’s team than in previous incarnations of his Fighting Tigers.

“One of the things that sets us apart from previous teams I’ve coach here is that we have more options at every position,” said Szmarz. “We are much deeper than we have been in the past and this is going to be of tremendous benefit to us as the season goes on.”

The Fighting Tigers will open the season at the Alfred State College Pioneer Classic on Saturday September 2nd at 1:00 PM when they meet the Jayhawks of Jamestown Community College followed by a game versus the host Pioneers of Alfred State at 2:00 PM on Sunday September 3rd. Cobleskill will then open the 2006 Mountain Valley Conference season on Tuesday September 5th when they travel to Herkimer, NY for a meeting with the Generals of Herkimer Community College beginning at 7:00 PM.