After coming off a successful 6-7 record last season and a regional tournament berth, the FM Men's soccer team has been busy preparing for its upcoming 2018 season.  The 16 man roster is a week and a half into their pre-season and Coach Leggiero's squad is looking forward to getting their season started. 

"Practices are tough on the guys with high expectations.  The guys are giving great effort and came in to preseason in pretty good shape.  With less than two weeks of pre-season, we have pushed hard to be ready for our first game," said Leggiero.  

This pre-season, the squad has been working on technical skills and positioning for the team.  A big emphasis on fitness has been crucial as well, in order to last through the rigorous season.

The Raiders return two key players from the 2017 team in Cameron Biche and Jefferson Jurado and will rely heavily on the newcomers.   

"With only Cam and Jefferson as the two returners from last year, there are big expectations on the new players this year.  For the first time, the majority of the team lives on campus this year.  We have some dynamic players and look to see it all come together as a cohesive group," said Leggiero.

The FM squad looks to finish out their pre-season focusing on the team and utilizing the new class of very talented athletes and focus on one game at a time, one play at a time and playing smart soccer. 

Coach Leggiero, who is in his fourth season at the helm, is excited for the season to start.  "Our goals have always been to win one more game, score one more goal and concede one less goal than last year."

The 2018 soccer season will begin on Sunday, August 26th at home.  The Raiders will take on the Jefferson Cannoneers at 1:00 p.m. at FMCC. 

Photo: Cameron Biche leads his team in practice.