The College of Wooster men's soccer coach Andy Zidron is hoping for his squad to take the next step, and this year he's looking to take some advice from football coach Frank Colaprete.

Colaprete implements the motto for his team "One more game," and Zidron believes that's something his team can learn from as well as Zidron enters his eighth season with the Scots.

"That's win the next play, be in the moment, win the next tackle, make the next pass," Zidron explained. "I think having that consistent mentality will help us from day one in training and also late in October."

The men's team formulated its own motto of "We go together."

"It's very simple, but I think it plays into our culture of family first - you're a part of something bigger than yourself and we do it together," Zidron said. "That's foundational for us."

The Scots were on the verge of taking that next step last year. They ended up sixth in the North Coast Athletic Conference at 3-4-2 and were still in contention of a spot in the conference tournament on the final day of its regular season.

Unfortunately, their fate was sealed shortly before their own game started. Yet, they ended the year with a 9-7-2 overall record, which was Zidron's second winning season with the club (going 8-6-3 in 2018) and highest win total for the program since 2006.

"I think we've been very close in terms of reaching our goals," Zidron said. "We know who we are as a program, and we've been right there the last two seasons."

The Scots graduated 12 from a year ago including two All-NCAC selections in Wilson Freije and Dani Halbing. The two were also All-Ohio selections along with fellow senior Max Hill.

Despite the large group leaving, Zidron is excited for what's to come in 2022.

First, he has a new assistant in Michael Lambeck, a goalkeeping specialist who played and assistant coached at Wittenberg University.

"He's very direct, and I think that's good for us and the players to be candor about what we're doing and how we need to do it to get to the next level," Zidron said. "We're excited to get to know each other more and continue to build something special."

In goal, Jason Prather returns after seeing the majority of playing time last year. He went 7-3-1 with 33 saves and four shutouts in 12 games played.

In the back, Zidron admits they will be a little green with key players leaving in Halbing, BJ Tally and Caleb King.

"We'll have some spots and holes to fill," Zidron said. "That's going to be a big emphasis of what we do moving forward, getting locked down in the back."

Jack Whitehouse and Jason Stewart are two names Zidron expects a lot from this year. He also has several returnees he believes he can rely upon including Garrett Anderson, Payton MacLean and Jonny Swiatkowski.

In the front, the team returns two of their top three leading scorers in Max Wiley and Langston Hood. Kyle Stringer, Moody Saadi and Mason Garza should also be key on the attack.

Wiley totaled five goals a year ago, while Hood scored four. Saadi and Stringer each scored three.

Internally, there should also be plenty of competition with the holes that need to be filled and the newcomers entering. Jacob Fried, Elliot Miller, Aion Morton-Wizgen and Luke Peter lead a class of eight first-years.

"We're very excited about this group and preseason has shown that we're committed to each other and willing to work for one another," Zidron said. "We're looking forward to fulfilling our potential and taking things one day at a time. We continue to be thankful that each day we 'get to play soccer with our friends.'"

The Scots open the year Sept. 1 at home against Baldwin Wallace University. They then travel to Hiram College on Sept. 24 to open NCAC play.