by Joe Azar
In the third year of the Todd Padgett era for CMU Men’s Soccer, it is a given that the team will be a force in the RMAC Conference. Over the past two year, silverware has become the standard for the Mavericks and along with his staff Padgett has created a winning environment that appeals to athletes from not only the state, but around the globe.
“You got to credit the program,” said Padgett. “When a program has success, when they win championships or make a deep tournament run, people want to be a part of successful teams. The credit goes to the players for making our lives as coaches easier on the recruiting trail.”
Yep. The sky is blue, the moon comes out at night and CMU Mavericks have another amazing soccer program. However, watch practice on a typical Grand Junction summer day and something is definitely different this year. Even RMAC Preseason Player of the Year Roy Abergil acknowledges a change entering his final year.
“You can see that this year the second squad and third squad are almost beating the first squad at times [ in intra-squad scrimmages],” said Abergil. “It’s something that hasn’t happened to us since the year we went to the Final Four.”
It was never a one-man team, but this year, the abilities possessed by a multitude of the Maverick players means that the amount of playmakers on the squad can exceed the one from the 2014 team that became one of
the best four in Division II. Moshe Perez, Luis Schraidt and veteran Trentin Atkin are a midfield feared by the entire country, and despite the loss of last year’s captain Blake Carlson, the defense will look to be the impenetrable wall it has grown accustomed to be thanks to James McGhee and Dustin Wagner. It also doesn’t hurt that the goalkeeper, Briley Guarneri, picked up where Micah Conrads and Brandyn Bumpass left off two years ago. As a freshman last year, Guarneri led the conference and shutouts and now he hopes that his talent doesn’t leave with the hair he cut off this year as all eyes are on him to become and even more vital figure after he was named the conference’s Preseason Goalkeeper of the year.
“Briley is well beyond his years as a goalkeeper,” said Padgett. “That’s normally a position that takes a year or two to learn in this level…what makes him so great is his maturity and professionalism, let alone his ability.”
“I’m excited,” Guarneri said. “It’s hard to come back and have a second year in a row that’s fantastic. It’s pushed me all summer to be better.”
Guarneri spent his summer playing for Tucson FC, in the same area that his dad has become a regional coaching legend in the sport, so it may not come as a surprise that he was selected as one of the captains for 2016. The other isn’t a surprise either. He may be challenged more in practice,but make no mistake, Abergil is the best player in the conference. Few possess the ability that he has in front of goal. Any great striker is lethal near goal, and considering Abergil has already broken the career record for most goals scored in school history, his striking speaks for himself, but Padgett also acknowledges another trait of Abergil’s that makes him one of the nation’s best.
“His ability with the ball at his feet,” said Padgett. “Obviously after a successful sophomore year attracted a lot of attention and what he did last year scoring 14 goals was impressive.”
Despite the depth, the storyline will very much have a big focus on Abergil’s swan song in a CMU kit, but it doesn’t mean Padgett will center his attack strictly on the Israeli.
“I’m a firm believer that the players around Roy now have tons and tons and tons of ability,” he said. “Roy should be making their lives easier and they should be making his lives easier. But we’re not looking to attack through one central key figure, we haven’t done that for the last couple of years. We play a specific system and philosophy. We are going to get the ball out wide into wide spaces, develop some patterns moving forward. It’s been successful and it’s certainly not broke.”
And if the philosophy combines with the ability the team is confident they have, Abergil’s aspirations for the season should be met.
“As many titles as we can win,” he said. “RMACs,
Regionals, Super Regionals, and Nationals. I don’t care, we’ll shoot for the moon.”
CMU will begin their quest to shoot for the moon starting Thursday, September 1 when they open their season against Eastern New Mexico University in the first of three games in four days at Walker Field.
