MIDWAY, Ky. -- Coming off a down season in 2018, the Midway University men's soccer team is looking to return to heights it reached in 2017 as they're set to kick off the 2019 campaign on Saturday night at Union (Ky.).
Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m. ET at Williamson Stadium in Barbourville, Kentucky. Union will be providing live stats and live video for the contest.
The Eagles are coming off a season that saw them finish at 5-11 overall and 4-5 in River States Conference play where they finished seventh in the final conference standings. It was the first time they missed out on the playoffs in their three years, but Tim Wolz's club is looking to make a return to the playoffs in 2019.
"We're still a very inexperienced team," said head coach Tim Wolz, who is entering his fourth season at Midway after starting the program in 2016. "Alex [Enzweiler] and Jared [Howard] are our only four-year players – our first-ever four-year graduates."
The inexperience is evident as the Eagles only have nine upperclassmen (seniors and juniors), while the roster fills out with 13 sophomores and 13 freshmen.
Alex Enzweiler (Erlanger, Ky.) and Jared Howard (Danville, Ky.) are two of the four seniors, while they're joined by Max Noel (Paris, France) and Devin Underwood (Lancaster, Ky.). Enzweiler and Noel also help make-up the six returning starters that are back from a year ago.
Last years leading scorer, Christian Melendez (Lexington, Ky.) is back for his sophomore year after scoring four goals and assisting on another as a freshman. Evan Sakamaki (Floyds Knobs, Ind.) is back for his junior season, while Brandon Ballard (Harrodsburg, Ky.) and Drew Blaydes (Midway, Ky.) are expected to step-up in year two as sophomores.
Wolz has also noticed a couple of freshman who could step-in and play right away. Jacob Smith (Frankfort, Ky.), Gerson Solis (Shelbyville, Ky.) and Luke Lehmenkuler (Memphis, Ind.) have showed potential in the early going according to Wolz.
"Gerson [Solis], Jacob [Smith] and Luke [Lehmenkuler] have stood out in preseason practices, all three are technically sound and could be dangerous going forward," noted Wolz.
As Wolz notes, he's liked the preseason practices and likes where his team is at. "It's a fun team to be around and the potential is there. They want to succeed and love learning; the training sessions continue to get better each time they step on the field."
Wolz added, "It's really exciting to be part of this squad."
Following trips to Union on Saturday and Milligan (Tenn.) on August 30, the Eagles will open a four game homestand when they host Shawnee State (Ohio) in their home opener on September 2 at the Midway Soccer Field.
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