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Aug. 22, 2008

SPOKANE, Wash. - Take away 10 seniors. Extract nearly half your goals from a year ago. Delete one of the all-time keepers in school history.

The above might be a recipe for failure.

But don't tell Gonzaga University head men's soccer coach Einar Thorarinsson.

Yes, the Bulldogs do lose 10 seniors from the most senior-laden team in school history. Yes, nearly half of the Bulldogs 19 goals scored a year ago went with those 10 seniors. And yes, gone is the 0.71 goals-against average of last season which is second all-time among Bulldog keepers, and 305 career saves which ranks first all-time.

Thorarinsson, entering his 14th season with the Bulldogs, will try to mold three seniors, a solid junior class, some up-and-coming sophomores and 13 freshman newcomers into another NCAA participant.

And the Bulldogs will have a brand new field to compete on with the completion of Gonzaga Soccer Field, the new field constructed since last season on the same site as the previous field. The new soccer facility also includes a 75-square yard practice field to the north where the tennis courts were previously housed.

The Bulldogs will get a pre-season test Sunday at 3:30 p.m. when Gonzaga faces three-time defending Canada West champion Trinity Western University in an exhibition match to be played on Mulligan Field on the Gonzaga campus.

The Spartans were 15-8-2 last season is winning the consolation championship of the Canadian Interuniversity Sport championships after dropping their quarterfinal match. TWU lost five-time CIS selection and 2007 CIS Player of the Year Nick Perugini.

Thorarinsson doesn't necessarily view the 2008 campaign as a rebuilding year.

"We had a great senior class and lost some outstanding players," Thorarinsson said of the 2007 success which saw the Bulldogs go 9-7-4 and earn their second trip to the NCAA Tournament with an at-large berth. "But I think we have a solid nucleus returning. I think the young players coming in will also vie for playing time."

Don't look for that to happen this year.

"This team is different. The chemistry is different. And I think it's a `good' different," Thorarinsson said.

Thorarinsson has three seniors on this year's club - midfielders Nick Heinrichs, Conor Baranski and Bryan Mullaney.

Heinrichs saw the most playing time of the trio last season, 15 of his 16 appearances in a starting role. Baranski had a pair of starts in 12 appearances and Mullaney came off the bench in all 13 of his matches.

Four experienced juniors give Thorarinsson promise for not only this season, but for next as well.

Tye Perdido is the top returning scorer for the Bulldogs, netting three goals and an assist a year ago for seven points. Defenders Nick Barclay and Tim Muravez, and midfielder Ben Funkhouser round out the experienced juniors.

Barclay and Muravez were two of five players to start all 20 matches a year ago, their defensive play helping the Bulldogs post a 0.71 goals-against-average which was just shy of the single-season school record of 0.68. Gonzaga recorded six shutouts in '07.

Heading into the season Thorarinsson thinks the defense is on track for another solid year.

"Our defense should again be very solid," Thorarinsson said. "They had a good fall camp and I look for it to continue right into the season, and Nick and Tim will be a major part of our success."

The last line of defense - the keeper - has come down to a two-man battle between 2007 freshman redshirt Andrew Hickman and Scott Barnum, a junior transfer last spring from Spokane's Whitworth College.

While Hickman was redshirting at Gonzaga last season, Barnum started all 20 matches while posting a 15-4-1 record, 0.68 GAA and 10 shutouts for Whitworth, which advanced to the second round of the NCAA Division III men's soccer championship.

Perdido was an All-West Coast Conference honorable mention selection last season and looks to have another solid season, finishing second on the team in scoring a year ago.

"Tye has had an excellent camp," Thorarinsson said. "He came back eager to pick up where he left off last year and could develop into one of the offensive leaders of this team."

Funkhouser started 18 of 20 matches as a sophomore, coming off bench in final two regular-season games and then re-entering starting lineup at SMU in first round of NCAA Tournament. His first goal of 2007 was the match winner in the 85th minute of 2-1 win over the University of Washington, the inaugural win for Gonzaga over the Huskies in 20 tries.

"Ben had a solid sophomore season," Thorarinsson said. "It appears he has continued to elevate his game over the summer heading into this season. I look for him to continue to show the same progress this season as he did from his freshman to sophomore season."

But the Bulldogs enter 2008 with quite a scoring drought, going the final 548:13 - a span of five-plus matches - without a goal at the end of last season. That included the 1-0 NCAA setback at SMU. All seven of the Bulldog losses were by 1-0 counts in 2007, three of them in overtime, and the Bulldogs allowed more than one goal just once. Including a 0-0 deadlock with Saint Mary's College, the Bulldogs suffered eight shutouts.

"We won't rely on just one man to score as we probably have the last couple of years," Thorarinsson said. "I also think you'll see us utilize more players this season."

Other returnees who gained valuable experience a year ago include forward Philippe Garre who saw action in 16 matches, had a pair of goals and an assist for five points; forward Joel Schilperoort who appeared in seven matches and forward/midfielder Nick Love who saw limited action in five matches. Garre was a WCC All-Freshman Team selection.

Freshman newcomers Mitch Boland, Jermaine Haller, James Partee and Josh Petosa on defense, and forward Mitchell Weller are among others who could see valuable minutes this season.

"We have some outstanding newcomers, some of which will redshirt," Thorarinsson said. "But I think you'll see some real contributions from several of the newcomers."

With losing so much off last year's team, the WCC coaches, perhaps as expected, picked the Bulldogs to finish sixth in the seven-team conference in the pre-season balloting.

But Thorarinsson thinks his Bulldogs might surprise some people.

"I don't put much stock in the pre-season polls regardless if we're ranked first or sixth," Thorarinsson said. "I think this team will have a better-than-expected season.

A new season. New team chemistry. A new field.

It just might be the recipe for success.