Lehigh University Athletics
Staying sharp during the summer
8/17/2009 12:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer
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BETHLEHEM, Pa. - With preseason camp just underway, several of the Mountain Hawks men’s soccer players stayed busy this summer. By busy that doesn’t mean relaxing on a beach, but rather competing in top amateur leagues such as the Premier Developmental League (PDL) and the National Premier Soccer League.
Adam Gazda, Jesse Schram, Adam Welch, Kevin Strunk and recent graduate Jim Taranto ’09 are members of the Reading Rage in the PDL. They helped guide the Rage to their best season in team history, winning the 2009 PDL Regular Season National Championship. James Graf, Matt Kosik, Daniel Odenwelder, Christopher Varga, and Alex Weisberger all played for the Pennsylvania Stoners of the National Premier Soccer League. Sophomore Neal Melchionni with the Ocean City Barons and goal keeper Jonathan Nydell with the Rhode Island Stingrays also competed in the PDL this summer.
The Rage defeated the Fredericksburg Gunners 3-1 on July 19, to claim their first regular season title. Gazda knocked in a rebound to get the Rage on the board and then setup Aarron Wheeler for the second goal of the game. Reading would go onto lose a heartbreaker in the first round of the PDL playoffs to the Cary Comets 2-1. It was the sixth straight year that the number one seed has lost in the first round of playoff action.
Gazda completed another great season for the Rage, scoring 10 goals, to go along with four assists and he finished second on the team with 24 points. Welch led all defenders with nine points on four goals and one assist, while Schram played in 106 minutes for the Rage. Gazda was named to the All-Conference team and was one of only five players nationwide to repeat the honor from 2008.
The defending league champion Stoners finished their 2009 season 5-4-1 and were unable to make it back to the playoffs.
Melchionni appeared in 14 games for the Barons, who finished the season 9-4 and advanced to the PDL Quarterfinals for the first time in team history. The midfielder contributed three points which included a goal and an assist in over 1,000 minutes played.
Nydell played in 11 games for the Stingrays and finished the season with 52 saves.
The men’s soccer regular season will officially begin at home on September 1, at 7 p.m. against Stanford.
