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Thursday,August 6, 2015
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
SPORTS
Breaking down the
men’s soccer roster
LUNA ANNA ARCHEY/Daily
Senior forward and team captain James Murphy will lead the team after a disappointing 2014 season.
By KEVIN SANTO
Daily Sports Editor
The Michigan men’s soccer
team’s season opener is just 12
days away, and with the Wolver-
ines’ matchup against Butler on
the horizon. The Daily takes a
look at the Michigan’s key return-
ers,
departures
and
arrivals
before the season.
Returners
The Wolverines will be an
experienced squad entering the
2015 season, as 17 players from
the 2014 campaign are returning
to form the backbone of Michi-
gan’s 25-man roster. Among that
experienced group, nine players
played in over 10 games last sea-
son.
The core of the returning class
consists of six players: sophomore
goalkeeper Evan Louro, sopho-
more defender Billy Stevens,
junior defender Lars Eckenrode,
senior forward James Murphy,
senior forward William Mellors-
Blair, and redshirt senior mid-
fielder Colin McAtee.
Individually, Stevens accumu-
lated the most minutes among the
players in his recruiting class and
started 17 matches at centerback,
primarily alongside Eckenrode.
The chemistry that the duo devel-
oped in 2014 will surely pay divi-
dends as they aim to anchor the
Wolverines’ defense.
The pair will also receive help
from Louro in net. Though he
split time with Adam Grinwis
during his freshman season, he
still accumulated eight starts and
posted a .718 save percentage.
Louro was heralded as the
No. 10 player in the country by
TopDrawerSoccer.com in 2014,
and was invited to participate in
the United States’ U-20 National
Team Camp in the same year.
Given that Grinwis has gradu-
ated, the young goalkeeper will
likely take over the responsibili-
ties in net and could be the player
to watch for during Michigan’s
2015 campaign.
Mellors-Blair,
Murphy
and
McAtee will likely be looked to as
the source of much-needed offen-
sive production for the upcoming
season. Though the Wolverines
averaged a respectable 1.11 goals
per game, they often couldn’t fin-
ish opportunities in their most
difficult matchups against teams
such as Ohio State and Penn
State, which resulted in frustrat-
ing losses.
Both Murphy and Mellors-
Blair assisted on three goals last
year — a total good enough to tie
for the team high in the category
— while also combining for four
goals. Mellors-Blair started every
match for Michigan, while Mur-
phy wasn’t far behind with 15
starts and 17 games played.
Given the departure of mid-
fielder Tyler Arnone, Murphy
may be asked to drop into less of
an attacking role in order to dic-
tate the pace of play and control
possession in the midfield.
McAtee is the player that the
Wolverines will expect the most
production from on the offen-
sive end after he put together an
exceptional junior season in 2014.
The forward was named to the
All-Big Ten First Team — lead-
ing Michigan in goals, points, and
shots on goal along the way.
McAtee was the first player in
the program to score eight goals
in a single season since 2010, and
he was No. 4 in the Big Ten for the
respective category. His breakout
game came against then No. 6
Notre Dame, a contest in which
McAtee led the Wolverines to a
3-2 victory with a hat trick.
Both McAtee and Murphy will
don the captain armbands for
Michigan in the upcoming sea-
son.
Departures
Though the Wolverines will
retain the majority of their roster,
there are five key departures that
have left voids to be filled.
Both Arnone and Grinwis
served
as
team captains
prior to grad-
uating,
and
each contrib-
uted
signifi-
cantly on the
field.
In his four-
year
career,
Grinwis accu-
mulated
68
starts
and
a
.741
save
percent-
age.
Despite
his
absence,
Michigan
should
feel
comfortable
handing
the
goalkeeping responsibilities over
to Louro.
Arnone, however, played a
specific box-to-box midfield role
that won’t be filled as easily as
Grinwis’. Though his senior-year
statistics weren’t as impressive as
his teammates’, he still physically
commanded the speed of play in
the center of the field, catalyzed
on the offensive end and was con-
sistent on the defensive end.
He finished No. 4 in minutes
played, No. 5 in matches started,
No. 8 in assists and No. 9 in shots
attempted in Michigan’s program
history. Now a member of Real
Monarchs SLC, Arnone also gar-
nered All-Big Ten honors in three
seasons as a Wolverine.
The Wolverines will also be
faced with replacing forward
Ahinga Selemani, who trans-
ferred to the University of Cali-
fornia Santa Barbara following
his freshman season.
Though the young striker only
scored three goals, he played in
every match and was second on
the team in shots and shots on
goal.
On the defensive end, Michi-
gan will be losing two steady
contributors: Ben Manko and
Nick Lewin. Despite the fact that
Manko played just nine games in
2014, he transitioned to the start-
ing left back role for the final five
matches of the season. Lewin, in
contrast to Manko, was a consis-
tent contributor — bolstering the
Wolverine defense with 15 starts
and 18 games played.
Junior defenders Rylee Woods
and Andre Morris are two candi-
dates who could vie for the spots
left open by Manko and Lewin.
The final departure that Mich-
igan must address is that of Mar-
cos Ugarte. The midfielder never
carved out a distinct starting spot
for himself, but frequently served
as a utility midfielder in his two-
year Wolverine career and tallied
three assists during his senior
campaign. He played in 15 games
in both his junior and senior year,
and his role as a supporting mid-
fielder was more valuable than it
may have appeared.
Arrivals
Michigan will add an eight-
man recruiting class to their ros-
ter this season, and each player
of that class will arrive in Ann
Arbor with impressive accolades
thus far.
Goalkeeper
Braden
Horton
will arrive to Ann Arbor as a red-
shirt sophomore transfer from
the University of Pittsburgh. As s
freshman, he started two of three
games for the Panthers, but his
sophomore season was cut short
after one game due to an injury.
Some of the most highly
regarded recruits are defend-
ers Johann Bittner and Marcelo
Borges, as well as midfielder
Francis Atuahene.
Bittner was named as a First
Team All-Indiana member in
2014 and was been a member of
the Indiana ODP State Team for
three years, while Borges is cur-
rently a member of the United
States’ U-18 National Team.
Atuahene is currently ranked
as the No. 13 player in the country
by CollegeSoccerNews.com, and
may transition to fill Selemani’s
previous role at forward.
The Wolverines will also add
defender Peter Brown, as well
as midfielders Ivo Cerda, Ryan
Kobakof and Robbie Mertz.
JAMES COLLER/Daily
Fifth-year midfielder Colin McAtee looks to captain a Michigan offense that averaged just 1.11 goals per game last season.