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GCCC men's soccer looking to build off historic 2008 season
Published 8/14/2009 in None : Other Sports
By BRETT MARSHALL
bmarshall@gctelegram.com
A year ago, the Garden City Community College Broncbusters men's soccer team opened its season with a 2-0 victory over then No. 4-ranked San Jacinto (Texas) Junior College.
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Brad Nading/Telegram - Garden City Community College's Federico Agreada, left, sends a penalty kick over a wall of Neosho County players during an October game last season at Memorial Stadium.
It was simply an omen of what Broncbusters coach Stephen Gorton instinctively felt about his 2008 squad.
"I thought we were going to be good, but honestly, I'm not sure I could have envisioned what we did," Gorton said Thursday as his team got underway with its first practices of the 2009 season. "This year, it's a whole different game. No surprises, we should be pretty good and that adds to the pressure."
Gorton saw his team post an impressive 18-3-1 record, place fourth in the NJCAA National tournament in its first-ever visit to the event in Phoenix, Ariz. and now finds itself preseason ranked No. 4 as they prepare for their Aug. 29-30 season opening games at Barton County in which they will play Western Nebraska Community College and Dakota Technical College of Minnesota.
With the return of eight of its 11 starters from the national tournament team, Gorton's expectations are obviously high.
"I'm really excited, the kids seem to be that way and I think we have a chance to be very good if we do all the little things that go into winning," Gorton said. "I think we'll have the same style of play as we did a year ago but I do think we have a chance to be more explosive on offense and should be better defensively. The key there is our goalkeeping. We lost both our goalkeepers so we'll be relying on two freshmen to handle those duties."
The battle for the starting goalie spot will be between Andres Venadides of Miami, Fla., and Sammy Duque of Liberal, who was selected as the Western Athletic Conference Player of the Year.
"It kind of looks like a starting quarterback competition," Gorton said. "We've got to find the one that will do the job every time and the other one can come in and give us time when we need it. They can't be too far apart, though."
Among the returning sophomores that Gorton will be focusing on for leadership will be Federico Agreda, a forward from Miami,Fla., and Alexis Dominguez, another Miami product, who plays the midfielder position. Dominguez was named to the NJCAA National All-Tournament team. Ulises Caba, a sophomore midfielder from Guymon, Okla., was an honorable mention All-America selection his freshman season.
Included in the incoming freshman class of 18 players is Minnesota High School Player of the Year in 2008, Whitney Browne of Brooklyn Park.
"I think this group is extremely motivated and hungry and they want more," Gorton said. "I think we've got the best incoming freshman class since the program started (now in its fifth season, third under Gorton). We don't have long to get ready, but we're doing three-a-days, making sure the players get the proper rest in between. We'll be good to go."
The Busters will open their home season on Sept. 2 against Dodge City Community College in an 8:30 p.m. game at Memorial Stadium.
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2009 Schedule
Aug. 29 — 4 p.m., vs. Western Nebraska CC at Barton County tournament; Aug. 30 — Noon, vs. Dakota Technical Institute (Minn.) at Barton County tournament; Sept. 2 — 8:30 p.m., DODGE CITY CC; Sept. 12 — 7 p.m., NORTH IDAHO CC; Sept. 13 — 3 p.m., LARAMIE (WYO.) CC; Sept. 16 — 5 p.m., CLOUD COUNTY; Sept. 19 — 4 p.m., at Northern Oklahoma; Sept. 23 — 7 p.m., COWLEY COUNTY; Sept. 25 — 8 p.m., ALLEN COUNTY; Oct. 1 — 7:30 p.m., at Hesston; Oct. 7 — 4:30 p.m., at Johnson County; Oct. 8 — 1 p.m., at Kansas City CC; Oct. 11 — 11 a.m., COFFEYVILLE; Oct. 14 — 7 p.m., BARTON COUNTY; Oct. 17 — 2 p.m., at Neosho County; Oct. 18 — Noon, at Independence; Oct. 22 — 8 p.m., DODGE CITY; Oct. 27 — First round, Region 6 Playoffs at higher seeded team; Oct. 31 — Final Four, Region 6, at Topeka; Nov. 1 — Championship, Region 6, at Topeka.
2009 Broncbuster Roster
Sophomores
Samuel Andrade, Brazil; Federico Agreda, Miami, Fla.; Tareq Al-Lugman, Kuwait; Ulises Caba, Guymon, Okla.; Jose Cardenas, Miami, Fla.; Alexis Dominguez, Miami, Fla.; Mariano Leo, Miami, Fla.; Adrian Loyacono, Miami, Fla.; Cody McClary, Amarillo, Texas; Jaime Rodriguez, Amarillo, Texas; Kenan Sahuric, Lincoln, Neb.; Frank Tauyou, Las Vegas, Nev.; Uzi Tauyou, Las Vegas, Nev.; Jaime Villacies, Miami, Fla.; DJ Zuniga, Liberal.
Freshmen
Andreas Benavidas, Miami, Fla.; Noah Bieber, Mattawan, Mich.; Whitney Browne, Brooklyn Park, Minn.; Jerson Carrasco, Amarillo, Texas; Leandro Cora, Miami, Fla.; Victor Davila, Amarillo, Texas; Sammy Duque, Liberal; Robert Escobar, Miami, Fla.; Samir de Esprilla, Miami, Fla.; Lazaro Gil, Miami, Fla.; Jose Hernandez, Miami, Fla.; Jean Juares, England; Nester Morales, Liberal; Chris Noria, Miami, Fla.; Nashley Petit, Miami, Fla.; Raphael Serra, Brazil; Guilherme Silva, Brazil; Andrew Sincock, England.
Head Coach: Stephen Gorton (3rd year, Western Illinois University).
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