Grizzly men's soccer team to open 2010 season Friday afternoon

The Adams State men's soccer team will play a pair of games to open its season over the holiday weekend.

Senior David Powers, shown here in last week's intrasquad scrimmage, is one of four returners on the Grizzly squad.

ALAMOSA – Year two of the Adams State men’s soccer program will commence when first-year head coach Tim Busen leads his young team, featuring just four returners, against Eastern New Mexico University on Friday at 12:30 p.m., for the first of two games on the season’s opening weekend.

Returning from the Grizzlies inaugural season are senior defenders Tyler Corbin (Mancos, Colo.) and David Powers (Fairbanks, Alaska), and junior midfielders Peter Freeman (Longmont, Colo.) and Joseph Jallow (Oldjeshwang, Gambia). The foursome were members of a team that struggled through their first campaign, compiling a record of 0-10-3, and are hungry to notch the first win in program history.

The Grizzlies and Greyhounds met up on the pitch twice last season. In Portales, N.M., ENMU topped the Grizzlies by a 5-1 margin on Sept. 27, and came to Murphy Field where they handed ASC a 3-0 loss on Oct. 10. Jallow recorded one shot on goal in each game, and Freeman had a shot on goal of his own in the contest at at Murphy Field.

ENMU ended its 2009 season with a record of 11-5-2, and return six starters, including their top three scorers from a year ago. Senior forward Emerson Rodrigues led the Greyhounds with 13 goals on 42 shots.  Sophomore midfielder Kal Herbert tallied five goals and five assists, while sophomore midfielder Diego Santos put up three goals and two assists. Also returning for ENMU is senior keeper Josh Bussen, who posted a record of 5-1-0 while allowing just five goals in nearly 500 minutes of play last season.

Also on tap for the Grizzlies this weekend is a Sunday afternoon non-conference meeting with Mesa State. ASC opened against the Mavericks in their inaugural campaign, fighting their way to a 2-2 tie in double overtime. The two goals were are the second highest single-game total in program history, and the 10 shots on goal are the most.  Sunday's kick-off will be at 1 p.m.

Adams State, which will play its first season with a full Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference schedule, was picked to finish ninth in the league according to the RMAC Preseason Coaches’ Poll.