The holes in the Elon University men’s soccer team are very visible at a time when the Phoenix can least afford them.
Coming off arguably the most successful season in program history, one in which then-senior Chris Thomas led the nation in goals scored with 23, the Phoenix enters 2013 as not only a team with a target on its back in the Southern Conference, but a team that can no longer slide under the radar and sneak up on nationally ranked programs.
Thomas and Gabe Latigue, one of the anchors of the midfield from a season ago, are no longer donning the Elon uniform, which could be cause for concern with another tough schedule on tap and vital holes needing to be plugged.
“Everybody now is more aware of our team and our program,” said Elon head coach Darren Powell. “Those two had exceptional years last year and were great ambassadors for our program over the years and did some great things with great achievements. But now, the journey of college sports changes annually so we’ll be different from last year as it was different from the year before that and in previous years.”
According to Powell, the key to filling the holes left by Thomas and Latigue is not finding a new go-to striker or a new anchor in the middle, but finding a team identity.
“The main thing we need to focus on right now is establishing who we’re going to be as a team,” Powell said. “Who is going to step forward? Is it going to be one individual or is it going to become the task throughout the whole team?”
In 2012, the Phoenix used multiple formations depending on who was on the field at the time. Senior midfielder Daniel Lovitz said he believes that will help the Phoenix continue the on-field success Elon has enjoyed in recent years.
“One of the great things about the way Darren coaches is our method of play — our style,” Lovitz said. “It creates a lot of chances. Obviously last year, we had a dominant forward who was putting most of those chances away, but we didn’t really have the depth at the position.”
Junior goalkeeper Nathan Dean echoed Lovitz, saying the way Powell coached last season has set the Phoenix up for success, even without a central goal scorer like Thomas.
“We know it’s not easy to replace people like Chris and Gabe, but I think one of the things we did a lot last year was change the formation around quite a bit,” Dean said. “One of our strengths is we were adaptable in the way we played and that will help us this year because it’s not as straightforward and going through one guy.”
While the Phoenix used two preseason games against perennial powerhouse University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and the University of South Carolina, Lovitz and Powell believe with the incoming freshman class combined with the returning players from a year ago, there won’t be one clear go-to option. It’ll be more of a “whoever is open” mentality.
“We have a plethora of a lot of attacking players that are going to be able to contribute,” Lovitz said. “If they’re in form and get sharp, we’re still going to be generating those chances and putting goals in the back of the net. I just look forward to more of the same and maybe even distributing the goals a little more evenly throughout the team, which has always been our goal.”
Powell took it one step further than Lovitz, saying with the personnel the Phoenix will put on the field this fall, there won’t be another Thomas-esque season in 2013.
“Knowing the group of players we’ve got returning, it’ll be a throughout-the-team job and not resting with one player like Thomas,” Powell said.
Senior midfielder Matt Wescoe tallied seven assists last season, all of which found Thomas on the other end. This year, with the multiple options the Phoenix has up front, Wescoe said there isn’t a central target he’s looking for on a cross. Instead, his target is much simpler than finding one player in particular. And he’s using his coach’s philosophy on goal scorers for the season.
“Whoever’s open,” he said.