Team Outlook
By Will James
As the 2009 Texas A&M Aggies head into the first game of the season next Sunday against Rice, let's take a minute to look at the team.
Top returning players from 2008 include Junior Attack All-American Steve Bouchard; midfielders Michael Pappas, Daniel Curl, Austin Wall, Eric Bouchard and LSM Cory Hartstein; and defenders Nick Reinsvold, Thomas Fleps and Frank Zastoupil. At goalie Aggie fans will see the return of 2008 Lone Star Alliance Co-Defensive MVP Jason Jolly.
The Aggies will be looking to these experienced players to lead the large group of younger players through the early part of the season as they gain their feet in the faster paced college game.
Coach Tony Scazzero comments: "I expect offensive players Austin Wall, Eric Bouchard, Jim Savage, Allan Kotzot, Derrick Dees and Jeremy Graves to step up and provide the Aggies with veteran quality minutes. On defense I look for Chris Atmar, Nick Schoenberger, Nick Scaljon, Hunter Morvan, Kyle Kephart, and Lucas Moss to contribute quality minutes."
Incoming players to the 2009 squad are attack/midfield players Walker Colt out of Stratford, Stuart Latham from Allen, midfield players Dustin Muir from Cedar Park, Ethan DuBois all the way from the University School of Nashville, David Van Sciven from St. Anthony's, Alan Hise out of Highland Park, Dane Richards from Forest Park, Virginia, Charlie Burt from St. Thomas, Louis Nicolosi from Clear Lake, Brian Smith from Frisco, and Michael Smith out of Sharyland. At defense new players are Tucker Biedenharn from Texas Military Institute, David Gautier out of Westwood, and Chris Wilson from Reagan.
When asked what the general outlook for the season is, and what some team goals are for the year, Coach Tony Scazzero responds, "We hope to improve consistency in our play. I hope to present schematic variations from multiple sets at both ends of the field."
We all know that "The System" that Texas A&M runs will continue to be used, but expect variations of that this year as Scazzero tests out the new players and builds upon some experience at defense.
Scazzero says that main team strengths are "Defense, experience, depth and team speed," some formidable assets to have.
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
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