by Alan Hoskins, KCKCC
With nearly a dozen returnees from one of the most successful teams in history and one of the most promising freshmen classes ever, expectations are high for the 2017 Kansas City Kansas Community College men’s soccer team.
The Blue Devils open a 12-game schedule Sunday, Aug. 23, when they host East Central at 2:30 p.m. The game will follow a noon kickoff matching the KCKCC women against Dodge City.
The first of three straight home contests for the Blue Devils, they’re also home Friday, Sept. 1, against Blue River at 7:30 p.m. and then will begin Jayhawk Conference and Region VI play in a home match with Neosho County Sept. 5.
The Blue Devils finished 10-4-1 last year, the first KCKCC team to finish above .500 since 2009. Beaten only once at home, the Blue Devils reached the first round of the Region VI playoffs.
“Our goal this year is to return to the playoffs and to host an opening playoff game,” said Ruben Rodriguez, who is in his sixth season as head coach.
He’ll do it armed with 11 sophomores, a new but experienced goalkeeper and an exciting group of 18 freshmen.
“The strength of this team will be the experience of our sophomores coming off a very good season, experience they’ll pass on to our freshmen,” said fourth year assistant Burke Slusher. “We should be two or three deep at every position.”
Veterans Emmanuel Hernandez, Leonardo Da Silva and Pa Ousman Jobe return to anchor the defense where they’ll be joined on the back line by freshmen Frano Buhovar, Quinton Exeter, Matheus Nunes, Gustavo Paleiri and Phillip Parmour.
The Blue Devils are loaded at midfield led by a sophomore contingent of twins Jesse and Giovanni Calderon of JC Harmon, Mario Sandoval, Brajan Huyke, Ricardo Angelo, Raul Barrios and Fernando Garella. They’ll be joined by freshmen Quintin Pulliam, Bruno Rovares, Reed Axthelm, Aldayr Carrillo, Hector Valles, Jonas Mejias and Abdulrahmen Khalid.
“Having so many midfielders is a good problem to have because typically they are the most versatile players,” Rodriguez said.
Sophomore Guilherme Grave heads a corps of forwards that also includes freshmen Keevin Dyke, Rodolfo Valiente, Ricardo Gonazlez and Jackson Jones. Youssef Gadelkerim, a 6-3 transfer from Monroe College where he played on a national runnerup team, will be the goal keeper.
With such a large squad, Rodriguez took the Blue Devils to Baker, Rockhurst and Ottawa for exhibition games.
“After Ottawa, we hope to have a good idea of our starting lineup and how our depth shapes up,” Rodriguez said.
The Blue Devils will play a 10-game home-and-home conference schedule, squaring off against Neosho County, Allen County, Cowley College, Coffeyville and Johnson County,
An instrumental part of the KCKCC soccer program since 2007, Rodriguez founded the KCKCC women’s program in 2012 and has more than 40 years of playing and coaching experience. A graduate of Missouri State where he played collegiately, Slusher previously was an assistant men’s and women’s coach at William Jewell and has more than 20 years of playing and coaching experience.