Buckeyes Open 2009 Season With Wolstein Classic – Ohio State Buckeyes
9/3/2009 12:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer
COLUMUBUS, Ohio – The Ohio State men’s soccer team opens the 2009 season at 7:30 p.m. against Gonzaga in the Bert & Iris Wolstein Classic in Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium. Penn State and Cal State Fullerton open tourney action at 5 p.m. Admission to the tournament, and to all home regular season games, is free.
The Wolstein Classic continues Sunday with the Nittany Lions taking on Gonzaga at noon, followed by the final match between the Buckeyes and Cal State Fullerton.
Ohio State returns six starters from a year ago, including tri-captains Doug Verhoff, Andrew Magill and Matt Gold, for head coach John Bluem’s 13th season at the helm of the Buckeye program. Eight true freshmen and three transfers join the 11 returning letterwinners to make up a young, but very talented squad.
EARLY RISERS
The Buckeyes are 60-22-11 in Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium since the facility opened in 1999 and are 12-7-3 all-time in their early-season tournament, including a 3-1-2 mark the last three seasons. Since 1991, Ohio State is 13-3-2 in its first home game of the year, while John Bluem is 6-2-1 in home season openers in his 12 seasons as head coach.
LIVE ON THE WEB
Both of Ohio State’s games during the Wolstein Classic will be streamed live on the Internet via BuckeyeVision on OhioStateBuckeyes.com with audio from Scarlet & Gray Sports Radio, Ohio State’s student station. In addition, live statistics for all four matches of the tournament will be available through OhioStateBuckeyes.com, linked from the front page, as well as the men’s soccer schedule page.
ABOUT THE WOLSTEINS
The Bert and Iris Wolstein Classic is named in honor of the family that first brought professional soccer to Ohio in 1979. Iris Wolstein and her husband, the late Bert Wolstein (2004), have been actively involved with the Ohio State athletics department for many years.
From 1979-1988, Bert Wolstein was the owner and president of the Cleveland Force of the Major Indoor Soccer League. Since then, the Wolstein’s support of Ohio State has included a major contribution in 2001 to the Ohio Stadium renovation project, prompting the dedication of the Iris S. and Bert L. Wolstein Football Center in the southwest tower.
OHIO STATE … IN A NUTSHELL
The 2009 Buckeyes feature six returning starters from a year ago, including central defenders, senior captain Doug Verhoff and sophomore David Tiemstra, and a pair of midfielders in junior captain Matt Gold and classmate Sam Scales. Up front, senior captain Andrew Magill and junior Konrad Warzycha both enter the season with two years of starting experience under their belts. Joining the six are 10 others that spent time in a Buckeye uniform in 2008 and 11 talented newcomers.
Ohio State finished the 2008 campaign with a 9-9-3 record and a trip to the second round of the NCAA tournament, its third appearance in the postseason in the last four seasons and sixth overall.
SCOUTING GONZAGA
Gonzaga opened its season Tuesday with a 5-1 drumming of Trinity Western. Ben Funkhouser was the lone Bulldog to earn a multi-point game, assisting on the first goal of the game before converting on a penalty kick in the second half to finish with three points. Four other players added tallies, including another PK in the opening period.
The Bulldogs return their top goal scorer, senior forward Tye Perdido (8), from last season’s 9-8-2 team and their top four scorers in Perdido (20 points), Funkhouser (12), junior forward Nick Love (9) and senior defender Tim Muravez (7). In addition, senior Scott Barnum returns in goal after seeing most of the duty in 2008, posting a 1.49 goals-against average, two shutouts and all nine of the team’s win.
SERIES HISTORY: First Meeting
SCOUTING CAL STATE FULLERTON
The Titans open their season away from their home field for just the third time since 1991 when they take on Penn State Friday to open the Wolstein Classic. Twelve letterwinners and seven starters return from the squad that went 5-14-1 a year ago, along with nine freshmen who redshirted in 2008.
Shay Spitz, who led CSF in scoring each of the last two seasons, returns for his senior season after netting four goals and three assists last year. Fellow senior Mark Nelson, a 20-game starter last year, and sophomore goalkeeper Trevor Whiddon, who posted a 2-6-1 record in nine starts a year ago, anchor the CSF defense.
Titan head coach Bob Ammann will be without senior Matt Sanders, who will miss the Friday game against Penn State while serving a one-game suspension for receiving a red card in the final game of last season. He will be eligible to play vs. the Buckeyes Sunday.
SERIES HISTORY: 1-1-0 (last meeting – OSU, 1-0, 9/16/05)
PRESEASON WRAP-UP
The Buckeyes wrapped up the preseason slate with a 1-0-1 record against a pair of Big East teams, defeating Cincinnati, 5-1, and tying Louisville, 2-2. Andrew Magill and Doug Verhoff each finished with four points against the Bearcats Aug. 23, as Magill posted a goal and two assists and Verhoff added a pair of scores. Konrad Warzycha, David Tiemstra and Sebatian Rivas rounded out the goal-scorers. Redshirt freshman goalkeeper Matt Lampson started the game between the pipes for Ohio State, holding the Bearcats scoreless for the first 45 minutes of action.
Against Louisville Aug. 28, defenders Verhoff and Tiemstra once again found the back of the goal to drive the Buckeye scoring. The senior captain broke the zeros with a header off a free kick by Warzycha that went inside the left pole in the 25th minute. After the Cardinals tied the game at one, Tiemstra converted on a pass from rookie Chris Hegngi to give Ohio State back the lead. With primarily reserve players on the field, Louisville tied the match in the 72nd minute and the teams would end play after 90 minutes. Lampson started the game in net, playing 71 minutes and making six stops.
OH CAPTAIN, MY CAPTAIN
Doug Verhoff, Andrew Magill and Matt Gold were named captains for the 2009 season through a vote of fellow players with the coaching staff holding final discretion. All three have held a steady spot in the starting lineup since their respective freshman seasons, including throughout the 2007 run to the College Cup final.
“All three of these young men are not only great players, but great leaders and great people,” head coach John Bluem said of his captains. “I am confident in their ability to lead this young team by example, both on and off the field, and show them the importance of hard work, determination and professionalism.”
FREE FOR ALL
Admission for all 11 home men’s soccer matches will be free of charge during the upcoming season. The decision to eliminate admission prices for selected Ohio State sporting events came with careful consideration of the desire to grow attendance figures and the delicate economic climate, among other factors. The elimination of admission prices for men’s and women’s soccer, as well as men’s and women’s gymnastics, grows Ohio State’s “admission is free” list (regular season events only) to 24 sports.
OHIO STATE PICKED FOURTH IN PRESEASON POLL
The Buckeyes were selected to finish fourth in the Big Ten in a poll of conference coaches last week. Indiana was selected as the favorite for the seventh-consecutive season, while Northwestern came in second and defending champion Michigan State rounded out the Top 3. Following the Buckeyes, Penn State and Wisconsin hold a tie for fifth and Michigan comes in at No. 7.
TELL ME MOORE
Follow senior Joe Moore’s blog throughout the 2009 season on OhioStateBuckeyes.com. Moore is in his third season with the Buckeyes after transferring from Oral Roberts following the 2005-06 school year and is one of the oldest and most experienced members of the current squad. He also is a two-time Academic All-Big Ten honoree as finance major.
BLUEM IN HIS 13th SEASON AT OSU
Head coach John Bluem enters his 13th season at the helm of the Buckeyes with an OSU record of 127-90-31 and a 17-year career mark of 213-117-43, a figure that puts him among the Top 35 active NCAA coaches in total wins and win percentage. Under his guidance, the Buckeyes entered the most successful era of program history, complete with three Big Ten titles, 10 Major League Soccer draft picks and all six of Ohio State’s appearances in the NCAA tournament, including the 2007 College Cup.
GOODE IS BETTER
Taly Goode joined the coaching staff in June as an assistant coach, working primarily with goalkeepers, after three years in a similar position at Ohio Dominican. Prior ODU, Goode spent three seasons with the Kansas City Wizards of Major League Soccer after being originally drafted out of Marshall University by the Atlanta Silverbacks of the A-League. He lettered four years at Marshall during the 1996-2000 seasons.
FAMILIAR FACES
A pair of volunteer coaches has been added for the 2009 season. Former Buckeye Danny Irizarry will patrol the sidelines as an undergraduate assistant as he finishes his degree at Ohio State, while retired Major League Soccer player Brandon Moss becomes a volunteer assistant after playing two years with the Columbus Crew.
COLLEGE CUP CAMPAIGN
Each year, the primary goal of Ohio State men’s soccer is to earn the chance to participate in the NCAA tournament, have the opportunity to represent themselves and Ohio State at this prestigious event, and be recognized as one of the top collegiate soccer programs in the country. The purpose of the ‘College Cup Campaign’ is to generate financial support for projects which are beyond the budget, but extremely valuable in enhancing the experiences of the student-athletes on our team. Please visit the men’s soccer page of OhioStateBuckeyes.com for more information and to donate to the ‘College Cup Campaign.’
BUCKEYES DOT MLS ROSTERS
Three former Buckeye players are currently on active Major League Soccer rosters. Eric Brunner, a senior on the national runner-up squad in 2007, joined the Columbus Crew in the offseason and has taken over a starting role as a defender. Ray Burse, who ended his OSU career in 2003, is the starting goalkeeper for FC Dallas, while Roger Espinoza plays an active role on the Kansas City Wizard’s midfield unit after one year with the Buckeyes in 2007.
