By Jim Fenton, The Enterprise (Brockton)
BRIDGEWATER, Mass. -- The Bridgewater State University men’s soccer team found its groove at the right time last season.
After falling two games below .500 in late October, the Bears went on a 5-0-1 run, winning the Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference tournament to earn a spot in the NCAA Division III tournament.
BSU, which lost four seniors, is hoping to carry that momentum over this year with an experienced group that includes 16 returning players.
The Bears open the season on Friday afternoon, playing at the University of Southern Maine. They will also go against Coast Guard the next day to conclude the Southern Maine Invitational.
“Last year’s team, I felt we were the better team in the MASCAC at certain points in the season and then we peaked at the right time,’’ said coach Brendan Adams, now in his 13th season. “Toughness-wise, defensively, last year we did very well with Matt Bagley in goal. But this team may be deeper. Our second unit could be just as good as the first unit.’’
Among the players BSU will have to replace are senior forward Craig Shadduck, who made the All-MASCAC first team for the second year in a row after scoring six goals, Luke Samperi of Easton, a first-team all-conference pick, and Bagley, who had a 1.00 goals against average and nine shutouts.
The Bears, who were 10-8-3 and 3-1-3 in the MASCAC, won at Framingham State and Worcester State to earn the conference tourney title before losing to second-ranked Amherst, 3-0, in the NCAA tourney.
Key returning players include Nick Keddie of Abington, a Cardinal Spellman High graduate, and Kolin Campbell, a pair of All-MASCAC second team picks in 2013. The two juniors will likely be at midfield for BSU, which played in the NCAAs last season for the first time since 2007.
Freshman Colin Golden is looking to take over for Bagley in net with Chris Naughton returning on defense. Sophomores Jon Pires and Camilo Mora, who were limited by injuries, will give the defense a boost.
Junior Steve McAvoy, who played all 21 games, returns at midfield while the forwards include Conor Murtagh (four goals), David Wilson (two goals) and Justin Kachadoorian.
“We’re definitely going to be a tough team, a gritty team,’’ said Adams, whose Bears open the home schedule on Sept. 17 against Rhode Island College. “We’ll play for the full 90 minutes. If teams are going to beat us, they’re going to know that they played us because of how hard we work.’’
BSU enters the season as the defending MASCAC tourney champion, which could serve as a confidence booster for a veteran team.
“We’ll see,’’ said Adams. “Definitely, confidence-wise, the guys came in very confident coming off a championship year. They have that feeling of getting back.
“At the same time, sometimes you get those bad habits where it’s just like, ‘We’ll get back there, we’ve got everyone returning. We don’t have to work hard.’ So a lot depends on the leadership. We definitely have the talent to get there but then it’s the leadership that you need.’’