Second-year men’s soccer coach Kevin Darcy has had a few training sessions and scrimmages heading into the season opener Saturday. The scrimmages have been more important because it’s been harder to field a full complement of players in practice because of everyone’s class and work schedules. It’s similar to what he faced one year ago, in the program’s first season.
“We haven’t been able to practice the system,” he said. “Being able to play (a scrimmage) gives you a chance to put a lineup together, put a system together, make some adjustments.”
With one more scrimmage this week before the Gators head to Frederick Community College in Maryland on Saturday, he’s looking to learn more about his team.
“Playing again Wednesday will be good because that will be two matches together and we’ll be able to build on that,” he said. “We can come in with a good idea of what we now know about a lot of the players.”
He has seen enough to know he has enough quality players for a competitive team, He expects the Gators to be more competitive than in 2023.
“By competitive I mean being in games for longer stretches, being in a position to get a result,” he said.
Last year, the Gators went 2-8, but one of the wins was in the New South Athletic Conference championship. This year, the Gators are in NJCAA Region 10 and will face tougher competition. However, with what he has seen of his team so far, Darcy is optimistic. Last year, he often had just one or two subs for matches. For his most recent scrimmage, he had five subs, and he was still missing some players.
“We are going to be much more capable in regard to just being deeper than we were last year,” he said.
As an example, he noted he has two goalkeepers on his roster this year as opposed to one last year. That will create competition.
“That’s a plus,” he said.
An area of concern right now is filling out the roster and making sure everyone is eligible and available.
“We haven’t trained systems enough to have too high expectations for what the first couple of (matches) would look like,” he said.
However, he expects to have a handful of returning players so that should help with having players on the same page.
He doesn’t know much about the opening-day opponent but will do his homework this week. He anticipates the Region 10 opponents will be tough.
“Those teams are all established and they play a good brand,” he said. “But I feel like we have a good enough roster to come in and be competitive. I think we’ll win a handful of games, hopefully more than that, but time will tell. We’ll just see how we come together.”
His assistant coaches are Justin Cook, Brandon Boetger and Karsten Faciszewski.
The Gators’ home opener is Aug. 27 vs. Mid-Atlantic Christian at Wanner Stadium at 7:30 p.m. They also are at home Aug. 30 vs. Bluefield University at 6 p.m. at Wanner Stadium.
For more information on VPCC athletics, go to https://virginapeninsulacc.prestosports.com/landing/index.