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2022 Fall Preview: Men's Soccer on a Quest for History with Fresh Faces

| By: Joe Ginley '16, SID
Competition has been strong during the preseason, as the Blue Streaks look to replace a titantic graduated senior class with a mix of veterans and youngsters. 
UNIVERSITY HEIGHTS – Undoubtedly, John Carroll Men's Soccer is in the midst of one of the best stretches in program history.

But that does not mean the Blue Streaks are satisfied.

In the second year of the Dejan Mladenovic '06 era, the Blue Streaks have high ambitions as always.

"Our annual goals don't change year to year. Winning the OAC Championship is very important to us, as we're always striving for the OAC double: Winning the regular season trophy and tournament titles. We always want that automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament," said Mladenovic. "We want to be the best version of ourselves the entire season. We want to be playing great soccer the John Carroll way in every game. I think we'll be able to do that in different ways this year."

The primary preseason storyline is an influx of talent following the graduation of a large senior class. The Blue Streaks graduated 15 seniors, including veteran captains Michael Adelman '22, Will Turrittin '22 (the program's first two-time All-American), and Jared Ianiro '22. Adelman will be returning as a volunteer assistant coach after winning the Wenzler Award last year. Adelman joins assistant coach Ante Pilekic and graduate assistant Matt Nigro '20. 

OAC Forward of the Year Benjamin Hryszko and All-OAC selections Connor Robinson, Chase Fernkorn, and Stephen Schutt also graduated. 

"We had a big outgoing class, but we do have a large incoming class," said Mladenovic. "We have similar talent, maybe even more so than last year. We'll work on meshing this unit together. Last year's guys played together for so long, so they always knew where their teammates would be. The challenge will be how quickly our guys can mesh and play well together."

As a result, one of the Blue Streaks' major offseason tasks was getting a new leadership core in place. Timothy Flannery, Nicholas Ruggiero, and Brenden Swann were voted the captains in the spring, and now step in to fill the void. The triumvirate is certainly capable and ready to light the path. 

"These three have led the way for several months now," said Mladenovic. "They are picking up the baton from a mega-talented group of Jared Ianiro, Will Turrittin, and Michael Adelman. I'm looking forward to watching this group lead the way."

Other key veterans include goalkeeper Connor Gynn and forward Michael Burrington. The two are returning for fifth years as graduate students. Both Gynn and Burrington are positive influences for the team on and off the field. 

Offensively, the Blue Streaks plan on relying on a wide variety of sources for scoring. A total of 13 players found the back of the net last year. Jack Foht is the top returning scorer, tallying 9 goals in 2021, just behind Hryszko's 10 tallies. 

"It will be a group effort on offense," said Mladenovic. "We don't want to rely on just one guy, we want to be diverse and have multiple options. That makes us difficult to defend when other teams start to man mark. We want to be able to create offense from everywhere."

The Blue Streaks hope the true strength of the team again this year is a brick wall defense. 

Izac Coleman, the spring 2021 Freshman of the Year, enjoyed a nice sophomore season, logging 1,627 minutes, second-most on the team. Daniel Kalic also played a huge role, often turning away promising scoring opportunities. And beyond these two juniors, the Blue Streaks have a ton of depth.

"We still have a strong defense and backline," said Mladenovic. "We have unknowns, as we work through different formations and personnel. But I'm happy with the depth of the position. We have a lot of options, which may make our decisions more difficult. But we're deep, and I'm very excited about it." 

Looking at the team as a whole, the Blue Streaks have strong talent at every position. In addition to an excellent freshmen class, John Carroll brings in several Division I transfers who are having an immediate impact on the competitiveness level in practice. 

Mladenovic sees this roster as one of the most well-rounded rosters he's coached at John Carroll. 

"The roster we have put together is probably the most versatile roster we've ever had in terms of positions and formations and style of play," said Mladenovic, in his 17th season as a coach and 21st overall at JCU. "We'll hone in on being a very indirect, possession-oriented team on the ball to dictate the tempo of play. But with our personnel, we'll be throwing a lot of different looks at a lot of different teams, and we can switch on the fly. We can start a game one way, and if we see something, we can adjust, and that's a credit to the players. We have talented guys with high soccer IQs who understand the formations and systems, and allow us to be flexible and attack teams in different ways."

The key this season is for the Blue Streaks to turn the talent into results.

John Carroll Men's Soccer has done that plenty in the recent past, winning four straight OAC Regular Season & Tournament Championships and making five straight NCAA Tournaments. But never before has any school won five straight OAC Tournament Championships. 

"This team has a lot to prove," said Mladenovic. "With so many graduating players with successful careers, the guys stepping up into playing roles want to prove that they are capable of winning consistently at a high level and continuing the winning tradition of the program. In my 21 years here, not sure if I've been part of a more energetic and competitive camp. The competitive level has been high every time we walk on the field. This group is very hungry to prove how talented they are."
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