2006 Men’s Soccer Preview

BILLINGS, MT – Posting a .500 record may not seem like too lofty a goal.  But for a program without a winning season in its 10 years, an even record could provide the impetus to turn the program in the right direction.  That’s the mission head coach Dan McNally has given the Montana State-Billings men’s soccer team in 2006.

McNally is beginning just his second season at the helm of the Yellowjackets, a program that has never won more than seven games in a season and has just one .500 season on record.  McNally’s goal is to start anew and turn around a program that has been mired in mediocrity since its beginnings.

The next two years should be good barometers as to whether McNally is on the right track.  Already he has transformed the roster to fit his style.  Of the 24 players, only five were already at MSU Billings when McNally arrived; the rest are his recruits.  Without a senior on the roster in 2006, McNally is looking at the current group of players as a two-year project.

“The major weakness that I see right now with this squad is that we’re young,” McNally says.  “Unfortunately we don’t have any seniors, which we can’t do anything about.  You always want to find positives in everything, and I think it could be a positive for us in the sense that this group will play together for two years.  If we can come together as a team it’s going to be a good two years for us.

“We always set goals.  I think the main thing is you’ve got to be realistic in the goals that you set.  For this program right now, my goal for this season is to be .500 or have a winning season.  Anything less than that will be a disappointment.”

If the 2006 Yellowjackets reach that .500 mark, it will easily be the most successful season in school history.  In the Jackets’ only .500 season, a 7-7-2 mark in 2001, the schedule didn’t include the caliber of teams MSU Billings will face this year. 

“We’ve got another tough schedule,” observed McNally.  “I think the standard of play in men’s Division II soccer is good and our schedule reflects that.  We open the season with a fairly tough road trip to Colorado where we’re playing Colorado State-Pueblo and Regis who both beat us last year.  Our conference is strong.  Incarnate Word was one of the top 25 teams in the nation last year.  We play them twice, so that’s going to be difficult.  Probably our toughest home game other than our conference games will be when we play Metro State on October 8.  That will be a great home game for us.  Metro will be a top 25 team again this season; it will be a very good test for us.”

Mitigating the challenges posed by the level of competition will be a record number of home games.  Half of the Jackets’ 18 contests will be played in Billings, and the nine road games are broken down into just three trips.  That’s a far cry from years past when the Yellowjackets were on the road almost every week of a 10-week season.  In addition to balancing the schedule with alternating stretches of home and away games, McNally has also reduced the stress on his players by eliminating back-to-back games.  For the first time the Jackets will not have to play on consecutive days all season.

“The schedule this season I believe is the best the program’s ever had,” he says.  “We’ve got nine home games compared to five in 2005.  The home games will make a big difference for two reasons.  First of all, playing games at home is obviously an advantage.  The other aspect of that is we’re not on the road as long and we have more time to prepare for teams, more time to practice, and just less traveling which means the guys will be better equipped to handle their classes.  Overall I’m very happy with our schedule.  I think it’s challenging, but I think with the squad I’m bringing in we can do quite well.”

Another new scheduling wrinkle this season will be the addition of a double round robin Heartland Conference schedule.  The Jackets will play at St. Mary’s University, St. Edward’s University, and University of the Incarnate Word and each of those Texas teams will make return trips to Billings. 

In addition, the Jackets will play home and away contests with Texas A&M-International and University of Texas-Permian Basin.  Those schools recently joined the Heartland Conference and are transitioning from NAIA to NCAA Division II.  Since they’re only in their first year of reclassification, they do not count as conference games or as NCAA games.  However, the Yellowjackets will still benefit from the addition of TAMUI and UTPB by getting the two additional home dates.  In all, Heartland Conference opponents will comprise five of the Jackets’ nine home contests.

“Having the conference schedule this year is going to be great for us,” says McNally.  “The players and I are all looking forward to the games really meaning something, which is different than last year.  Now we’re in a league.  We’ll have standings and know where we fit within the conference, and it’s going to be exciting.  We play each team home-and-home, so it’s going to be good that teams have to travel to Montana to play us.

“In terms of the quality of teams, the Heartland Conference is a strong conference for men’s soccer.  Incarnate Word is always a top 25 school.  St. Edward’s is improving, and St. Mary’s will be a good team.  I think we fit right into the mix.  I don’t think there are any particularly strong teams other than Incarnate Word, and I don’t think there are any really weak teams.  The key for us is to win our home games.  If we have a good conference home record, we’ll have a good chance of doing well.”

The Jackets’ schedule breaks down nicely into five segments of alternating home and away games.  They open with three games at the end of August in Colorado.  The season opener will be at Colorado State-Pueblo on August 24 followed by games at Colorado Christian on August 26 and Regis on August 28.

After returning from Denver, the Yellowjackets won’t hit the road for nearly a month.  They’ll play at home throughout the first half of September, hosting Incarnate Word, St. Mary’s, St. Edward’s, and Albertson College.  That four-game home stand will span from September 1 to September 16. 

The Yellowjackets’ first trip to Texas will take them to Laredo and Odessa starting September 22 to face the Heartland’s two new teams, TAMUI and UTPB.  They’ll also pick up a neutral site game in Odessa on September 26 against College of the Southwest.

Following the three-game swing south, the Jackets have a three-game home stand to end September and begin October.  They’ll host Colorado Christian on September 30, University of Mary on October 6, and Metro State on October 8.  Mary is new to NCAA Division II after beginning reclassification from NAIA last year.  Metro State is traditionally one of the top teams from the tough RMAC.

MSU Billings wraps up the conference schedule with a three-game trip to Texas in mid-October.  The Jackets will face Incarnate Word, St. Mary’s, and St. Edward’s in a span of five days.  They’ll close out the season two weeks later with home games against Texas A&M-International and UT-Permian Basin.

Although the Yellowjackets are young, they are not entirely devoid of experience.  McNally will have eleven players who were with the team in some capacity last season.  Even if some of those didn’t see much playing time, they are at least familiar with the system entering fall training camp.  And several players were thrown into the fire as freshmen over the last two seasons and have a good amount of experience.

 “My two captains, Greg McKeever and Josh Hernandez as juniors, are going to bring experience and leadership to the squad,” McNally says.  “I’m looking for those two to have big seasons.  Returning team freshman of the year Brian Huskey should have a good season.  I think he can score more goals (than last year).  Once he adds that to his game he’s going to be a real threat.  I’m also looking at Jay Dougan, Andrew Hernandez, and Jurell Linford.  They all made positive impressions in their first year, and I look to see them improve again this season.”

McKeever (Kirkland, WA) and Josh Hernandez (Palmdale, CA) are both defenders.  They provide a wealth of experience to the Jackets’ back line having started every game of their collegiate careers.  Huskey (Billings, MT) had a solid season last year as a true freshman, starting 15 games.   Dougan (Motherwell, Scotland), Linford (Missoula, MT) and Andrew Hernandez (Palmdale, CA) each played in 15 games during their rookie seasons in 2005.

With a strong nucleus of defenders returning, McNally had gaps to fill both in goal and on the attack.  Senior goalkeeper Jess Feldtman graduated after posting a 1.81 goals against average.  The Yellowjackets set several school records for defensive categories last season with Feldtman in net.  A crop of newcomers will likely be called upon to tend goal as well as score goals for the Jackets in ’06.

“I’m very happy with this year’s incoming class,” says McNally.  “I’m bringing in a center forward from England, Sam Charles; I battled a lot of other schools to get his signature.  He’s a big boy, 6-foot-3, and he’s got good pace.  I think he can be a real goal threat for us.  I’m bringing in a very experienced center midfield player, Chris Cornish from England, who I may partner with Brian Huskey in midfield.  I think those two will be a good blend.

“Another international, Tom Milroy from Scotland, is just an all around good player.  I think he can have an impact in two or three positions.  And I’m very happy that I brought in five very good players from Montana.  Jarred Weisen (Great Falls) will give us an offensive threat.  Two goalkeepers, Erik Andrews (Kalispell) and Sander Tollefson (Missoula) will probably compete for the starting job.  Both can make an impact.  Overall I’m happy with my incoming players.”

McNally believes that if the defense can maintain its level of play from a year ago, the Yellowjackets will be in a position to make major strides in 2006.  On paper, the Jackets’ 1.81 team GAA should have translated into a record better than 5-13-0.  But the Yellowjackets scored only 20 goals in 18 games, just 1.09 per game.  If there’s any secret to the Jackets’ reaching that elusive winning season, McNally admits that it will be in the efficiency of the attack.

“Defensively we were great last year.  We broke all the school records for defending and did very well in that respect.  This year’s team must improve offensively.  That’s where a lot of my recruiting was based.  I brought in some good attacking players; that’s where we’re going to have to blend our already sound defensive play with some good attacking play.”