A new era of University of Charleston men's soccer begins this season as the No. 2 Golden Eagles finish their preparations for their first season under new coach Dan Stratford.
Stratford, the former West Virginia University standout who spent time in Major League Soccer and the Scottish Premiership, has spent the last few seasons as an assistant on Chris Grassie's coaching staff before getting promoted after Grassie took over at Marshall.
"Everything has been positive so far," Stratford said. "It takes some time to implement the system and the structure that we want to have, but I'd say we're in a very good place right now. We have a talented team, a talented recruiting class coming in, and I don't think it will be long before we feel like we're firing on all cylinders."
This year's group is a strong one for Stratford. UC brings back a wealth of experience from last year's Division II national runner-up team. That group is led by forward Will Roberts, who was a first team All-American last season, as well as senior defender Thomas Vancaeyezeele and junior midfielder Patrick Guier.
But Stratford said it has been an important preseason for the Golden Eagles, as the program has brought a large group of incoming players. The team has been able to make good use of the preseason to work with those newcomers, as Charleston searches for the type of tactics that will suit it best for another run at a national championship.
"We always try to put some tough non-conference games in early on and that will give us some great tests while giving us a chance to pick up some results against quality teams," Stratford said. "Those players who are back are important because they can help some of the younger players who are used to playing longer seasons overseas where you can struggle and still recover. It's far more difficult to do that here in the college game, so you need those returning players there to provide that leadership."
So far Charleston has played exhibitions against Division I teams like George Washington and West Virginia and will have one more tune-up at 7 p.m. Saturday at Schoenbaum Stadium against the University of Indianapolis.
Through those games, the first-year head coach has gotten a look at what to expect from his team. And it has provided much-needed experience, necessary when when a squad has players from 22 different countries coming together.
Stratford is hoping they can use these preseason games and the first few contests of the regular season to continue building needed chemistry.
"One of the big challenges is that you have so many people from so many different backgrounds because there are differences in the way that different cultures play the game," Stratford said. "This preseason has been big because we're using it to get people on the same page. There have been some growing pains, but we've gotten better every day and we'll be in a much better place come next Thursday once we start against Mercyhurst."
Depth could be a major strength of this group, which Stratford said could be as good as it has been in a few years. And if it clicks the way it has the potential to, the Golden Eagles believe that there's no reason they can't, once again, be one of the elite programs in Division II.
"This is as deep as we've been since I've been here at several positions, and it's going to be a good headache for us to have when it comes to figuring out what the winning team will be," Stratford said. "We want to make sure we have this group of players totally on board with what we want to do and ready to work toward our ultimate goal."
Contact Michael Carvelli at 304-348-4810 or michael.carvelli@wvgazettemail.com. Follow him on Twitter @carvelli3.