The resurgence of the Ohio Valley men’s soccer program is a sight to behold as the Fighting Scots have transformed from pretender to contender in less than a two-year window.
Considering the program was mired in a winless 0-17 season just two years ago, what second-year head coach Luis Rincon has done in a short amount of time is nothing short of remarkable.
The Fighting Scots officially have the attention of the other coaches and being picked in a tie for third to begin the season reinforces the thought OVU is legitimately ready to challenge for the conference crown.
OVU was represented with five different student-athletes on the 2015 all-conference team and four will return.
Talented senior midfielder Christian Galindo was second in the G-MAC in assists (7) and led the league with 0.39 helpers per game. Galindo also scored two goals and had 11 points in 17 games. He was joined on the all-conference second team by fellow senior Jeremiah Yondah (1 G, 1 A).
Junior keeper Carlos Rubio was in goal for all 18 games in his first full season as a starter. He led the conference in saves while his goals against average (1.49) was top five in the conference.
Rubio was a G-MAC Athlete of the Week and is the backbone for a stingy OVU defense that pitched six shutouts.
One departure of note is reigning G-MAC Freshman of the Year Ignacio Gonzalez, who burst on the college scene with four goals and six assists as a rookie. He was also on the all-conference first team and all-freshman team. His offensive production will be missed. Another absence from last season, forward Angel Riano, scored three of his four goals in game-winning fashion.
This is still a very young program with the composition of four seniors, eight juniors, 10 sophomores and one freshman.
Ohio Valley will be starting the season with a rematch against incoming G-MAC 2017 institution Walsh. The Fighting Scots also match up with another future conference school in Ohio Dominican on Sept. 22.
Head Coach: Luis Rincon (2nd season)
2015 Record (Overall): 9-8-1
2015 Record (Conference): 6-5-1
2015 All-Conference Performers: Ignacio Gonzalez (G-MAC Freshman of the Year, First Team, All-Freshman Team), Christian Galindo (Second Team), Jeremiah Yondah (Second Team), Jorge Morales (All-Freshman Team), Diego Thielen (All-Freshman Team)
Quotable: “We will improve a lot in different areas, but there are some new faces that we are transitioning in. We are working hard and hope that our recruiting class does well. We’re proud of getting that (two first-place votes), but this is a transition to where we want to be.”
- Ohio Valley Head Coach Luis Rincon
Records Watch: In just one season, goalkeeper Carlos Rubio established himself towards the top in several categories and will only continue to climb…He is currently 10th in career saves (82), fifth in saves per game (4.56) and both his goals against average (1.56) and wins (9) rank ninth all-time.