Mustangs seek continuous rhythm on the pitch

SIOUX CITY, Iowa — Even though there's a lot of new faces on the Morningside University men's soccer team, the determination to win the Great Plains Athletic Conference is the same.

The Mustangs are the favorite in the preseason GPAC coaches' poll, and the goal for coach Tom Maxon and players is not only winning the regular-season title, but also claiming the GPAC Tournament crown.

Morningside fell short of the latter last season, losing to Hastings in the GPAC semifinals. Maxon said the main key to win both GPAC championships is adhering to the game plan early and quickly as possible.

"We have a very specific and very complicated tactical kind of approach to our game," said Maxon at Fall Sports Media Day. "We really worked our way to that last year. Once we found our rhythm, we just walked through the GPAC pretty solid. To reestablish that this year with a bunch of new faces is the challenge."

According to Maxon, there are 36 new players to the roster, adding to the 62 total men playing for the Mustangs this fall. Maxon has noticed what the new faces can bring on the pitch.

"We see the abilities of the new players coming in," Maxon said. "I don't blame some of them for trying to do too much in the beginning. They want to get some playing time. What's happening right now, is that this group of leaders, although very strong and very good, have a much tougher job than the last group did."

Of the 36 new players, 28 are freshmen — 22 of them foreign. Across the full roster, there are 42 international men, with 12 hailing from Germany.

One of those leaders this season is senior Jordan Bickel from Maeder, Austria. Not only is he the Mustangs' leading returning scorer from last season with six goals, he also is the co-leading returner in points with 15.

"I just feel like we need to be one unit rather than a different couple of groups," Bickel said. "We grew together in the preseason, and that's going to determine whether we're going to win again this season."

In terms of returning goalkeeping, both men who played in net — Timon Koerber and Tim Teschner — are back this season. Both appeared in 10-plus games, with Teschner leading with 36 saves, while Koerber had 20.