PORTALES, N.M. – In the return of men’s soccer to the Lone Star Conference for the first time since 2012, the Eastern New Mexico men’s soccer team was selected to finish fifth the LSC Preseason Poll, as announced by the conference office on Tuesday.
In the poll voted upon by LSC head coaches, sports information directors and select media representatives, the Greyhounds received 156 votes, two ahead of Lubbock Christian and 19 more than Texas A&M International.
The Lone Star Conference will consist of 11 men’s soccer teams duking it out one of the top six spots to qualify for the LSC Postseason Tournament. The top two seeds in the tourney will receive first round byes while the No. 3 and No. 4 seeds will host a first round game. The semifinal round and championship game will be played at the venue of the No. 1 seed.
The Hounds are coming off their best season since 2014 after closing out the 2018 campaign with an 8-8-2 record and a 6-6-2 mark in the final year of the Heartland Conference.
Eastern put together some outstanding performances last season, which included a 2-1 home win over St. Edward’s after Julian Trappnotched a pair of goals, scoring the equalizer with just three seconds left in the first half as well as the game-winner in the 60thminute.
The Hounds also were able to string together a strong second half performance at No. 23 West Texas A&M, rallying from a 2-0 halftime deficit thanks to goals from Gregory Franusic and Gabriel Peres in the second half to force a 2-2 draw against the nationally-ranked Buffs.
With ENMU bringing back 18 players from last season, the Greyhounds return a strong core to their center line, headlined by D2CCA All-South Central Region honoree Gabriel Peres. The junior from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil was also an All-Heartland Conference First Team honoree after finishing second on the team with 15 points, scoring six goals and tying a team-high three assists.
Joining him in the midfield is fellow Brazilian Lucas Vaz. Last season, the Sao Paulo product was tied for second on the team with six goals to go with a pair of assists. The Hounds also bring back a pair of solid midfielders in Gregory Franusic and Craig Brand. Franusic played in 13 matches and made seven starts last year, scoring three goals for the Greyhounds while Brand logged the most minutes on the team with 1606 while tying a team-best three assists.
Eastern is also returning a big presence in their attack with forward Julian Trapp. The 6’4″ German native earned All-HC Third Team accolades last season after scoring four goals and tallying a pair of assists in just 11 matches.
The Greyhounds will also be bringing back a key piece in the defense with goalkeeper Ross Dalton. A junior from Liverpool, England, Dalton started 14 games in goal in 2018 and allowed just 1.44 goals per match while making 37 saves.
On top of a strong core of returners, second year head coach Jon Fridal also brought in 16 newcomers to join the team during the 2019 campaign.
Eastern picked up a win in their exhibition opener on Monday with a 2-0 shutout over Wayland Baptist. The Greyhounds will play one more exhibition game against Adams State in Albuquerque, N.M. on Aug. 24.
The Greyhounds will officially open the regular season at Colorado Mesa on Sept. 5 before returning home for their home-opener at 1 p.m. on Sept. 8 against Fort Hays State.
