EVANSVILLE – Preparations for Marshall Ray's second season at the helm of the University of Evansville men's soccer program are already well under way as the Purple Aces opened up preseason practice earlier this week.
"The guys have come back fit," Ray said. "We did well on the beep test, and training has been competitive. It always is in the first few days, and our task will be to make sure that the commitment and excitement is still there in three or four weeks. So far, it's been great."
The Aces will play just one preseason match, an Aug. 20 showdown at IUPUI, before opening up the season at Xavier later this month.
"Unlike in the past, we have a few more days before we play our first match," Ray said. "That's allowed us to kind of ease into the season a bit more and focus on conditioning and fitness instead of having just three or four days to get ready for an exhibition match. There's no question that there are a lot of spots available in our line-up, but we really aren't trying to make any decisions yet on what we're going to do with our group."
PRESEASON INTRASQUAD SCRIMMAGE SET
The Aces will get on the field competitively for the first time on Aug. 16 at 5:30 p.m. as UE will host an intrasquad scrimmage at Arad McCutchan Stadium. Admission will be free.
MCGRATH STILL ON FORM
Ian McGrath enjoyed a fruitful summer of playing soccer at FC Buffalo, and that is certainly showing in the early parts of preseason this week.
"I don't think that it's any surprise to us that McGrath has come in and been focused and sharp," Ray said. "He's committed himself to training and grown into a leadership role for us, demanding more of himself and others."
An all-conference honorable mention a year ago, McGrath was named the Supporters' Player of the Year for FCB. The New Lenox, Ill., native finished the season with three goals and an assist while helping the team post a 5-2-3 record in the NPSL Midwest Region.
"There's no question that playing this summer helped him," Ray explained. "He had some success with the team he was with, and they had a good year. He was a big part of what they were doing. I think anytime you play and are successful, it helps your confidence, and that's shown so far this preseason."
RAY STARS IN NEW MEDIA THIS WEEK
For the first time ever, Marshall Ray and head women's soccer coach Krista McKendree joined Lance Wilkerson on Facebook for a live broadcast discussing the coming seasons. The video was the second new media offering that Ray participated in this week as he also starred in UE Athletics' first-ever podcast, which was released on Thursday. Check out both below!
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