GREAT MIDWEST ATHLETIC CONFERENCE
Men’s Soccer Season Preview

G-MAC Men’s Soccer Championships: The 2012 Great Midwest Athletic Conference Men's Soccer Championship will take place on November 2, 2012 through November 3, 2012.

The location of the Championship will be determined by the seeding of the three-team tournament. The regular season champion will host the Championship and earn a bye into the Finals. Kentucky Wesleyan (a member of the GLVC in 2012 as they transition out of the GLVC and into the G-MAC) is not eligible for the G-MAC Championships. However, its regular-season games against all G-MAC opponents will count toward the opponents conference record.
 
Men’s Soccer Preview – Top Returners & Newcomers

Cedarville will be led by senior Ryan Thurman and juniors Steve Ellis and Timmy Waller. Ellis, was a NCCAA All-America First Team defender and was named to the NCCAA National All-Tournament Team. Thurman was an All-Ohio Second Team forward with three goals, nine assists and 15 points, while Waller had six goals, six assists and 18 points from his forward position. The three of them and newcomers Ethan Dewhurst, Joe Davison, and Connor Gilmour will try and duplicate the success of the 2011 team that was the NCCAA Midwest Region champions and first third at the national tournament. The Yellow Jackets return 22 players and add seven, despite losing only five to a team that went 14-6-3.

Trevecca Nazarene will bring back Donny Maciel, a first team All-NCCAA Mideast Region midfielder, who made 12 starts and was second on the team with four goals as a freshman; Alex Stagman, who was a TranSouth Scholar-Athlete as a senior defender who has played in 50 career games in three seasons; and Jonathan Baskin, who was named Capital One Academic All-District Team and TranSouth Scholar-Athlete as a sophomore. The loss of leading scorer and NCCAA Mideast Region First Teamer Jordan Enix and arguably the programs best goalkeeper of all-time, Hayden Coffman, will be difficult to replace. Newcomers Bruno DeMoreas and Rob Ward, who both transferred from Martin Methodist College, and freshman Tucker Archie will look to lead a group of 10 newcomers.
 
Urbana returns a pair of seniors that are expected to lead the defensive end of the field in goalkeeper Darragh McGinley, who was 6-5-1 with 86 saves and a 1.80 goals against average in an injury shortened season, and defender Ed Willoughby, who was an All-OIC Second Team selection with two goals and two assists from his defensive positions. Junior forward Tyler Wason will look to lead the team again in scoring, coming off his 11 goals, six assist and 28 point season in which he established a school record with his four game-winning goals and was named to the All-OIC First Team. Newcomers Jared Brand (Sea, England) and Michael McFarlene (Haddington, Scotland) will bring some international experience to the program, along with experience from Chase Newman (Tiffin) and Yves Nzwanga (Shawnee State), who each transferred in this season.
 
Men’s Soccer Preview – Team News

Cedarville, under head coach Todd Beall, in his third season, has lofty goals of winning the NCCAA Championship this season, the first-ever G-MAC Championship, and qualifying for the NCAA Division II Playoffs in the schools first season as an active member after finishing their membership process. As the program celebrates its 50th season of men’s soccer, they will face nine first-time opponents in an 18-game schedule, of which 17 are against DII competition.

Trevecca Nazarene returns 12 players, welcomes in ten newcomers to replace the ten that were lost from a team that was 9-9-1. With such a balance of players lost and players gained from a team with a perfectly balanced record in 2011, the Trojans, who will be playing at a facility with multiple improvements and upgrades, are looking to break the single-season win record for the University.
 
Urbana went just 7-10-1, but with an impressive class of new players joining 12 returners, the Blue Knights have the opportunity to improve upon its 2011 record. Wason is just one game-winning goal shy of the career record as he tied the single-season record with four last season as a freshman. Urbana faces a tough schedule, including Mercyhurst, who the Blue Knights knocked off on the road last year giving the #5 ranked team its first loss of the season, and against Gannon, who were ranked 12^th and Urbana defeated the last time they visited campus in 2010.
 
Men’s Soccer Preview – Season Outlook

Cedarville  is deep with talent, especially in the back with Ellis and the addition of freshman goalkeeper Ethan Dewhurst, who played for the Crew Soccer Academy. The team goals are high with the recent success of the program and the return of a talented group of players, mixed with incoming freshman with lots of potential.

Trevecca Nazarene was a NCCAA Mideast Regional semifinalist last season and are looking forward to establishing themselves as a leader in the G-MAC and working to build the conference into a recognizable NCAA Division II soccer conference. Currently entering its second year of candadcy in the NCAA Division II membership process, the Trojans are taking the right steps to helping the conference establish itself – and more importantly building a program that will be ready to compete as it gets closer to full, active membership at the DII level.
 
Urbana will be led by Coach Roberts in his fifth year, and look to make that next step. In his first three seasons, the team went 6-10 each season. Last year the team was 6-5-1 and winning late in the game when starting goalkeeper McGinley went down for the season with a shoulder injury. They closed out the season with five losses, three in overtime, before finishing with its seventh win in the last game of the year. With a healthy McGinley and added depth, UU will be looking for its first winning season since 2006 and with a strong strength of schedule, the Blue Knights will be pushing for a spot in the regional rankings.