By Jim Fenton
BRIDGEWATER, Mass. -- The 2023 season was a special one for the Bridgewater State University men's soccer team.
The Bears won both the Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference regular-season and tournament championships, earning a seventh trip to the NCAA Division 3 tournament.
BSU went 6-0-1 in the MASCAC, then posted a pair of shutout victories to win the tournament before losing to 20th-ranked Tufts, 3-0, in the NCAAs.
The Bears finished 12-3-5 for the program's highest win total since 2015.
Coach Brendan Adams, now in his 23rd year with BSU, returns a majority of players from that team, and the Bears are picked to finish first in the MASCAC preseason coaches poll.
But BSU has some holes to fill after the departure of forward David Nelson, who ranks second in program history with 76 career points, and goalkeeper William Russell, who posted a 1.17 goals against average in his career to rank second for the Bears.
Finding more scoring and getting reliable play in net will be two keys as BSU attempts to win back-to-back championships.
The Bears begin the season with a non-conference game Friday at Mazzaferro Field against Johnson & Wales at Mazzaferro Field starting at 7:30 p.m.
"Our goals are high, to go back and compete in the championship game,'' said Adams, who is four wins shy of 200 in his career. "It's going to take a lot of hard work for two months to get us there.
"For the returning players, they are definitely hungry to do better than last year. The tough part will be dealing with the ups and downs of the season when the expectations are so high.''
There are three All-MASCAC players back in the lineup for the Bears, including first-team midfielder Filippo Mucci (Vineyard Haven, Mass.). The junior was tied for second on the team with six goals to go with three assists.
Second-team selections Hector Bucio (Easton, Mass.), a sophomore forward, and sophomore midfielder Nicholas Ribeiro (Bellingham, Mass.) are also back.
Ribeiro was the MASCAC co-rookie of the year after getting six goals and 10 assists in his first season.
Nelson led the offense with 11 goals and six assists, and it will be up to Bucio and others to fill the void.
"David had a knack for putting the ball in the back of the net,'' said Adams. "Hector is a hard-working kid. Hopefully, he can find the back of the net consistently.''
Also up front will be senior Dominek Borden (New Bedford, Mass.) and Thomas Neves (Medway, Mass.).
The strength of the team is in the midfield where three freshmen started a year ago.
Back are Ribeiro, who had six goals and 10 assists, Tyler Chang (Acushnet, Mass.) and Ethan Mallett (Ellington, Conn.). They are joined by Ryan Healy (Cork, Ireland) and Ethan DeMelo (Acushnet, Mass.).
The defense includes Justin Silva (North Attleboro, Mass.), Jacob Ramos (New Bedford, Mass.), Jack O'Toole (Wilbraham, Mass.) and freshman Dermott Amorim (Wrentham, Mass.).
Russell started 19 of 20 games as the keeper last season and allowed just 18 goals while going 12-3-4.
Senior Lukas Ekmanis (Baxter, Tenn.), Framingham State transfer Matheus Rodrigues (Edgartown, Mass.), freshman Tyler Rocchio (Attleboro, Mass.) and senior Daniel Beverage (Wallingford, Conn.) are vying for playing time.
"It's kind of up in the air right now," said Adams. "There's really no definite No. 1."
The last time a team repeated as MASCAC tourney champions was 2009-10 (Salem State) and the last time a team won back-to-back outright regular-season titles was 2007-08 (Framingham State).
The Bears will look to end that streak as they bid for consecutive crowns.
"We have a good core back," said Adams. "The biggest thing for us is complacency. We were able to win last year and a lot of things went in our direction. We created the good luck by how hard we worked.
"Now, since we won, are people comfortable? That's the biggest thing we're dealing with right now. It's a whole new year. You have to put in the same amount of work, and if we do, hopefully it pays off. But there's no guarantee."