GREENEVILLE, Tenn. --- The Tusculum University men's soccer team opens its 2022 season this Friday, August 26 when the Pioneers welcome Spring Hill College to Pioneer Field.
Friday's 7 p.m. match will start a slate of 15 matches during the 2022 season for the Pioneers, who have won three South Atlantic Conference tournament championships under head coach Allen Vital. The Pioneers have seven regular starters back from last year's team, and 14 players in all who made at least one start during the 2021 campaign. Defensive strength will be critical for the Pioneers, who surrendered 38 goals in 14 matches last season and had just one shutout, which came in a 0-0 draw with Lincoln Memorial in their conference opener.
"We still have some work to do, but we continue to improve everyday," said Vital, who begins his 12th season at his alma mater. "We have solidified the squad in areas where we didn't have depth and in other areas where we needed to be better. The team has a good balance with returners who played lot of minutes last season and some newcomers with potential to contribute a great deal to this year's campaign. We are also excited to have some guys back who we didn't have due to injuries last season. I am eager to see how we respond to the challenge."
Following Friday's season debut, the Pioneers will be on the road Monday afternoon at Clayton State for a 5 p.m. match with the host Lakers. Tusculum will play its SAC opener on Saturday, September 10 at home against Lenoir-Rhyne to kick off a slate of 11 league contests.
FORWARDS
The Pioneers have a pair of preseason All-Conference selection in senior Ignacio Alconchel (Palma del Rio, Spain) and senior Damien Baltide (Fort-de-France, Martinique).
Alconchel led the Pioneers with seven goals and 14 points in 13 matches last season, and was tied for 10th in the SAC in goals. Alconchel, who led the Pioneers with 43 shot attempts and 20 on goal, scored a hat trick at Lees-McRae in early September and went on to net four goals in 10 conference matches.
Baltide, who was selected honorable mention All-SAC following the spring 2021 season, started all 14 matches last season and was second to Alconchel on the team with three goals. Baltide has six goals and three assists in 21 career matches for the Pioneers.
Junior J-P Vital (Greeneville, Tenn.) started eight matches last season before being lost for the year with a knee injury. Vital has a goal and three assists in 15 career matches for the Pioneers. Freshman Luis De La Fuente (Arriondas, Spain) joins the program after playing in his native Spain following his graduation from high school.
MIDFIELDERS
Junior Michele Di Miele (Weston, Fla.) and junior Pedro Concheso (Gijon, Spain) are returning starters for the Pioneers. Di Miele made 13 starts last season and collected a pair of assists, giving him a goal and two assists in 20 career matches. Concheso started nine matches out of 13 appearances and led the Pioneers with four assists, and enters this season with a goal and four assists in 19 career contests.
Senior Lucas Romeiro (Vila Velha, Brazil) appeared in 10 matches last season and scored one goal, while sophomore Carson Anderson (Thompson's Station, Tenn.) played in nine matches and made three starts. Senior Tyrell Squire (Bristol, England) has eight appearances across his first three seasons with the Pioneers.
Sophomore Cristobal Morales (Las Condes, Chile) returns this season after making two appearances during the spring 2021 campaign, while junior Matt Joki (Duluth, Minn.) also returns after playing four matches in the spring of 2021, with one start. Senior Ethan Lau (Petaling Jaya, Malaysia) and sophomore Allen Meza (Lenoir, N.C.) are also back for the Pioneers this season.
Sophomore Gui Busato (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) comes to Tusculum as a transfer after making 11 starts for Lee last fall, scoring two goals and an assist. Junior Juan Villasenor (Morristown, Tenn.) and freshman Lars Schutrups (Wolvega, Netherlands) are also first-year members of the Pioneer program.
DEFENDERS
Four players with starting experience from last season will take the field for the Pioneers this fall: seniors Marc Caceres (Sant Cugat Del Valles, Spain), Ira Heppard (New York, N.Y.), Xavi Sandoica (Tarragona, Spain) and Adam O'Sullivan (Cobh, Ireland).
Caceres has started each of the last two seasons for the Pioneers, playing in a total of 13 matches with 11 starts. Heppard made six starts last season and has 11 career appearances, while Sandoica is the veteran of the Tusculum backline with 19 career starts and 27 career games played. O'Sullivan, who came to Tusculum last fall after three seasons at Florida Atlantic, made seven appearances last fall for the Pioneers and started six.
Sophomore David Evans (Johnson City, Tenn.) played in a pair of matches for the Pioneers last season, while seniors Matheus Assuncao (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) and Phillip Hall (Dayton, Tenn.) along with junior Rasmus Nylander (Sundsvall, Sweden) all have two or more seasons of experience in the program.
Joining the program this season is senior Dani Aguirre (Guatemala City, Guatemala), who started 33 matches over the past three seasons at Ferrum and scored three goals. Junior Gael Anrifani (Marseilles, France) comes to Tusculum after scoring three goals in 16 matches at Illinois Central College, following a season at Saginaw Valley State where he made eight starts.
Sophomore Devin Vital (Greeneville, Tenn.) joins his father and brother with the Pioneers this season having played one season at Iowa Central College where he made 15 starts. Joining the program as freshmen are Othmane Chagour (Casablanca, Morocco), Dimitrios Davourlis (Kirkland, Quebec), Asbjorn Saevik (Ulsteinvik, Norway) and Linus Salomonsen (Stavanger, Norway).
GOALKEEPERS
All three goalkeepers were members of last year's team, led by senior Bruno De Freitas (Indaiatuba, Brazil) who made nine starts last season and had a 2.64 goals against average. Sophomore Nicolas Leite (Santo Andre, Brazil) started two matches and had nine saves, with sophomore Mack Waters (Lenoir, N.C.) also back from last year.
THIS WEEK'S SCHEDULE
The Pioneers host Spring Hill in their season opener on Friday at Pioneer Field. The Badgers finished 11-8-0 last season and went 5-6-0 for eighth place in the Gulf South Conference, including a 2-1 win over the Pioneers in last year's season opener in the first-ever meeting between the programs.
Tusculum will travel to Clayton State on Monday, August 29 for a matchup with the Lakers, who were 9-8-2 overall and second in the Peach Belt Conference with a 7-4-1 league record. This will be the first meeting between the Pioneers and the Lakers since 2013 and Tusculum's first trip to Clayton State since 2012. The Lakers have won the last two meetings but still trail the all-time series by a 5-4-1 margin.
