The John Brown University men's soccer team will have a decidedly different look to it when the Golden Eagles take the field Monday for their season opener at Texas A&M-Texarkana.
The Golden Eagles lost nine players from last year's team that finished 9-8-1 overall and 5-4 in the Sooner Athletic Conference.
John Brown University men’s soccer
2019 schedule
Date Opponent Time
Aug. 19 at Texas A&M-Texarkana 5 p.m.
Aug. 23 Lyon 6:30 p.m.
Aug. 30 Bethel (Kan.) 6:30 p.m.
Sept. 7 Columbia (Mo.) 5 p.m.
Sept. 12 at Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) 2 p.m.
Sept. 13 at Midway (Ky.) 3:30 p.m.
Sept. 21 Tabor (Kan.) 7:30 p.m.
Sept. 24 Bacone (Okla.) 7 p.m.
Sept. 28 Ecclesia 1 p.m.
Oct. 1 Central Christian (Kan.)* 7 p.m.
Oct. 5 at Science and Arts (Okla.)* 4 p.m.
Oct. 12 at Oklahoma City* 7 p.m.
Oct. 17 Oklahoma Panhandle State* 5 p.m.
Oct. 19 Wayland Baptist (Texas)* 3 p.m.
Oct. 24 at Texas Wesleyan* 7 p.m.
Oct. 26 at Southwestern Assemblies of God (Texas)* 3 p.m.
Oct. 29 Mid-America Christian (Okla.)* 7 p.m.
Nov. 2 Southwestern Christian (Okla.)* 3 p.m.
* Sooner Athletic Conference match
"It was mostly seniors so we lost a big class," said head coach Brenton Benware, who is 17-17-3 overall and 9-9-1 entering his third season at JBU. "Obviously that means a rebuild in terms of guys learning the system and understanding roles and understanding the nature of our conference."
The Golden Eagles have brought in 10 new players, including several transfers.
"While we're fresh and green and young, I feel like we have experience where we're not going to miss a beat," Benware said.
The Golden Eagles are excited to see the JBU debut of junior Marcelo Mendes of Johannesburg, South Africa, a Division I transfer, who sat out all of last season.
"He's a captain," Benware said of Mendes, who plays left defender. "He's shown great leadership on the field."
Mendes will head up a back line that includes freshman center back Matej Urbanija of Ljubljana, Slovenia, who was a member of his native country's U-17 national team.
A familiar face for local soccer fans, sophomore Jack Bos of Siloam Springs, will man the other center back spot.
"It's fun to see him succeeding here," Benware said of Bos. "He and Matej will be the spine of the defense."
Sophomore Adrian Immel of Goppingen, Germany, was the Sooner Athletic Conference's Co-Freshman of the Year last year and he returns at right back.
"We feel really confident about our back line," Benware said.
Senior Ryan Smith (Houston), sophomore Cooper McCombs (Tulsa), redshirt freshman Luke Gumm (Siloam Springs) and Joao Goncalves (Setubal, Portugal) also are in the mix at defender.
The defenders will be in front of a trio of men competing for the Golden Eagles' goalkeeper position.
Senior Britt Wisner (Houston) is in his fifth year in the program and had 74 saves and three shutouts as the starter last year.
Freshman Logan Campbell (Tulsa) and sophomore Jens Keemers (Overikssel, Netherlands) are also fighting for playing time in goal.
"We think we have three keepers to give us a good shot to compete," Benware said.
The Golden Eagles are hoping to have senior midfielder Kelvin Omondi for 2019 after the 2016 SAC Player of the Year missed all of 2018 with an injury. Omondi has 36 career goals and 12 assists from 2015-2017.
"He's healthy and he's hungry," Benware said. "He sees an opportunity that he's been given."
Junior midfielder Jessie Zavala is another Division I transfer who brings a lot of pace and experience to the wing, Benware said.
"If we get Kelvin and Jessie on the field, we're going to have a fun year," Benware said.
Freshman Dalton Georgopulos (Highland Ranch, Colo.) is another winger for JBU along with freshman Eli Jackson of Siloam Springs and freshman Micah Smith (Kijabe, Kenya).
In the central midfield, sophomore Goncalo Verissimo (Lisbon, Portugal) is expected to be a key player as well as junior Samuel Estrada of San Salvador, El Salvador.
Newcomer Oscar Carballo of San Jose, Costa Rica, was recruited highly at both the Division I level and by first division teams in his native Costa Rica.
"He's a quality player that will help build our attack," Benware said.
Sophomore Alejandro Sequeira (Costa Rica) transferred from Barton Community College and brings experience and depth in the midfield as well as fifth-year senior Amilcar Gonzalez of Springdale.
The Golden Eagles are excited about freshman Jacob Zamarron of Rogers at forward.
"He's a rare talent on top," Benware said. "He's going to score some goals for us this year."
Sophomores Micah Hermann of Stillwater, Okla., and Max Everswick of Austin, Texas, also play forward. Hermann had six goals and six assists last season for JBU and is the Golden Eagles' leading returner scorer.
The Golden Eagles were picked to finish fourth in the Sooner Athletic Conference behind predicted conference champ Science and Arts, Mid-America Christian and Oklahoma City.
"Our league is getting stronger every year. A few years back, we were probably three to four teams strong," Benware said. "Now we're 6 to 7 teams strong."
After its season opener Monday in Texas, JBU returns home for its first home game on Friday against fellow state school Lyon at 7:30 p.m.
The Golden Eagles open Sooner Athletic Conference play against Central Christian (Kan.) on Oct. 1 but should be plenty battle-tested by then, Benware said.
"We have some good preseason matches," Benware said. "We play Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) and we play Columbia out of Missouri, both top 25 teams generally. It will be a great gauge for us as we prepare for those conference matches."
Sports on 08/18/2019