Men's Soccer Team Opens Preseason Practice

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SYRACUSE, N.Y. – The Orange men’s soccer team took the field for the first time this fall on Wednesday, Aug. 13. Syracuse opened preseason practice with a pair of training sessions. The morning workout consisted of several fitness tests. The team’s afternoon practice was moved to the Carrier Dome because of rain and was highlighted by some live scrimmaging.

Syracuse is the only BIG EAST team not to lose a non-league match in the last two seasons and it will carry a 13-game non-conference unbeaten streak into its 2008 opener against Canisius on Friday, Aug. 29.

This year marks the 18th season for SU head coach Dean Foti and he brings one of the most experienced teams in the BIG EAST to the pitch this fall. The Orange returns all of its goal scorers from a year ago and the roster features 15 juniors and seniors. One of those juniors, forward Hansen Woodruff (Stuart, Fla.), earned preseason all-conference recognition on Tuesday. He led SU with 24 points and 10 goals in 2007.

Defensively, the Orange is anchored by senior goalkeeper Robert Cavicchia (North York, Ontario). Cavicchia, who lost about 15 pounds in the offseason, has started 50 games in goal during his first three campaigns.

Between now and its first match, the Orange will try and integrate seven talented newcomers into the mix of veterans. That group includes NSCAA high-school All-American David Neumann (Pleasant Valley, N.Y.) as well as a pair of top foreign players in Canadian midfielder Kevin Chan-Yu-Tin (LaSalle, Quebec) and German-born midfielder Raoul Meister (Sprockhoevel, Germany).

Syracuse returns to work on Thursday with two more training sessions.

Syracuse University Athletics

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