SEASON PREVIEW: Experienced Bison Ready for Season

The Matthew Wolf era is here for the Bethany College men's soccer program.   

Coming off a 4-10-3 season, the Bison will bolster significant experience with 11 seniors and 10 juniors. The time is now for this version of the men's soccer program that returns three of their top four scores.   

"This team will have a renewed discipline and identity in our style of play and culture," said Wolf. "The upperclassmen understand this chapter of their life is ending and will leave the program better than they found it."  

That said, Wolf has a clear idea of how he wants his first team at Bethany to look.   

"I want to play an up-tempo possession-base style that creates numerical superiority in the attacking third," said Wolf. "To put it simply, I want to score loads of goals. I want to have a style of play that is exciting and attractive."  

Seniors Pedro Chillemi and Taivier Stewart return to the pitch after combining for eight goals and three assists. Chillemi finished with five goals and one assist, while Stewart found the back of the net three times with a pair of assists.   

After playing nine games with just one start, the light appears to have gone off for junior Defrante Braithwaite. Despite coming into the season with just one point, Braithwaite has taken to the more attack-base system in the preseason. Sophomore Ousainou Conateh, along with junior midfielders, Pablo Aguilera, Valerio Martino, and Nahuel Vivas, will looked upon to create consistent offensive pressure.   

Bethany will have a plethora of options in the attacking third as junior Ian Stempler, senior Massimo Favetto, Derieck Hernandez, freshman Justin Jones, freshman Abdul Kamara, and freshman Simeon Vandy will compete for minutes. Freshman Samuel Bedoya and sophomore Paul Sanyang could find some minutes in the midfield.   

Returning captains, senior defender Santiago Bruni and senior goalkeeper Matteo Pintus will provide the experience and leadership in the back third. Senior Joel Salomone-Gomez is the only other Bison that played double-digit games along the backline. Junior Jaheem Shepard, who played in five games as a sophomore, and senior Lucas Conde bring some collegiate experience and will be looked upon early to help provide stability in front of Pintus.   

The senior goalkeeper started all 17 games, posting a goals-against average of 1.86 while stopping 70.8 percent of shots. Senior Matias Caurtango played in a pair of games in relief of Pintus last season.   

Other defenders to look out for are freshmen Benjamin Coker-Hernandez, Hunter Atkinson, Caleb Brown, and Jacari Cruz.  

Bethany kicks off the 2024 campaign 3 p.m. Sunday at Mount Union.