2011 Men's Soccer

With the return of almost every contributor from the 2007 season and a recruiting class focused on shoring up weak spots, hopes are high for this year's Freed-Hardeman University Lion soccer team.  

Last year, the team struggled with finding the back of the net so head coach Jason Elliott added several recruits to help with scoring. 

"We have a good group of freshman and I think we will see big things out of them," he said.  "The freshman class is going to make our team much deeper but we are counting on several returning players to really step up for us this year."

Top returning players for the Lions are Ryan Engineer, a junior forward from Pune, India, and Diego Rojas, a senior midfielder from Heredia, Costa Rica.  

Among the top newcomers for the Lions are Alexandre Girodo, a goalkeeper from Belo Horizonte, Brazil; Josh Oberlin, a forward from Canton, Ohio; and Kevin Jamieson, a forward from Columbia, Tenn.  

"Our freshman class has added a lot of things we needed from last year," said Coach Elliott. "The main thing is speed and attacking ability which I think these freshmen will bring to our team and we are excited about the season."

The season begins on Aug. 21 at Tennessee Temple University.  After the Lions' opening match, they will play two matches in Kentucky on the first weekend of September.  The home opener is Sept. 5 at 8:00 PM against Harris-Stowe (Mo.) State College, which is part of a fall classic tournament that FHU is hosting.

The Lions begin conference play at Martin Methodist College on Sept. 16.  On Oct. 2, the Lions will host Cumberland University in the home conference opener.  The regular season will end on Oct. 31 when the Lions host Trevecca Nazarene University for senior night.

"We are excited to see what we can do this year.  With the combination of new players and returners I think we can maybe sneak up on some people this year," Elliott said.  "Last year we had great fan support for the community and students and so we are hoping for the same this year.  Our guys will work very hard with two-a-days beginning on Aug. 5 and we will see what we can accomplish this year."