Junior midfielder Marco Sapien is back from injury and ready to help Wooster to a much-improved season.

A new era is set to commence on Sept. 1, as The College of Wooster men's soccer team plays a game under the direction of Andy Zidron for the first time. Zidron fully expects to return Wooster to its winning ways (9 conference championships, 6 appearances in the NCAA Div. III Championships field), and has brought a much-needed infusion of energy and positive passion to the program, but he's also not making any promises.

"I think we have a really solid core group of guys, both talent-wise and in terms of a mindset to work hard," the first-year coach stated. "The change I hope people see is how we approach the game, the intensity level we bring. Also, we're trying to be intentional about serving one another and working hard for the team. With that said, we're really trying to build upon a (winning) culture that's already there."

"The expectations are to compete in every game, and when the opponent leaves the field – win, lose, or draw – we want them to think they were in a battle," he continued.

The Fighting Scots have the potential to field a stingy defense, with all-conference talents Matt Ehrenburg, Lucas Hunt, and Matthew Kelly filling three-quarters of the backline in front of the goalkeeper. Ehrenberg, a free kick specialist in addition to his defensive prowess, and Kelly, who can provide offensive firepower via his heading ability, were on the All-North Coast Athletic Conference Team a season ago, while Hunt picked up the same recognition following the 2013 campaign.

Alex Hopkins, a senior like Ehrenburg and Hunt, also has been a starting defender most of his career, but has been battling an injury thus far in the 2015 pre-season. Senior Sheamus Dalton has been productive throughout his career when healthy and could contend for a starting nod in the back this year, and sophomore Bob Beall is expected to build on his initial collegiate experience.

That group will be tasked with helping senior Daniel Quinn, sophomore Scot Stacho, and two other 'keepers maintain clean stat sheets. Quinn started nine times in goal last fall and possesses the communication skills and length to excel, while Stacho also is working to fulfill his strong potential.

Wooster's midfield could get a significant boost with the return of a healthy Kieffer Hessler. The junior displayed great promise as a part-time starter during his first year, but suffered a season-ending injury after just two games last fall.

Gabe Lopez, another junior who primarily started at defender last season, is expected to make the move to midfield, and additional experience there includes classmates Zachary Mastrich and Marco Sapien as well as sophomores Maxwell Clement and John McCall. Mastrich has really developed, according to Zidron, while Sapien started 10 times and tallied a couple of assists before suffering an injury in 2014. McCall started regularly as a rookie (12-of-15 games played) and Clement made 14 appearances overall.

The Scots will need an uptick in scoring to improve their win-loss record, and among those attempting to fill the opposition's net are returning forwards Ben Deering, Mouhamet Ndiaye, Aleksi Pelkonen, and Patrick Pickering. Pelkonen, a junior, and Pickering, a senior who has been injured this pre-season, each have three career goals, while Ndiaye's single tally as a freshman came on an impressive play against nationally-ranked Ohio Wesleyan University.

Some players within the freshmen class could make an immediate impact, too.

As a member of the NCAC, Wooster is part of one of the top men's soccer leagues across NCAA Div. III, which Zidron is certainly aware of as a former player and assistant coach at Denison University, and he wants his new team to meet the challenge of contending for a postseason spot (top-four regular season finish) head-on.

"It's a good challenge to have. We embrace the opportunity to play good teams. Competition is the fun part and we look forward to it," said Zidron, who also noted that the team is benefitting from the return of assistant coach Wes Davis. "Wes has great passion for the kids and the game. He's a great asset and will do anything to help us succeed."