2008 Media Guide - Greenville College

GREENVILLE COLLEGE PANTHER SOCCER42008 Men’s Soccer Season PreviewThe 2008 edition of the Greenville College men’s soccer team hasreturned to campus to continue the tradition of strong Panthersoccer. Eight starters return from the 2007 team, while 14 firstyearplayers are a welcome addition to the squad. Last season, thePanthers qualified for the NCCAA National Tournament held in Kissimmee,Florida and finished sixth in the nation which was a school record. Greenvillealso recorded 89 goals over the course of the season which was good for firstin the NCCAA along with being a school record.Among Greenville’s losses from the 2007 squad are SLIAC all conferenceperformers Frankie Ellis (Cape Girardeau, Mo., Notre Dame HS) and JustinBuller (McPherson, Kan., HS) along with defender Cody Parker (Edwardsville,Ill., HS). Over Parker’s four-year career with the Panthers he established aschool record of 93 games played.Greenville returns three SLIAC all-conference performers, includingsix players who contributed to their summer Professional DevelopmentalLeague (PDL) teams. Senior midfield captain Brian Limbaugh (Sedalia, Mo.,Smith-Cotton) received first team all-SLIAC status along with being namedan NCCAA All-American last season. Returning junior captain forward MattReeb (Belleville, Ill., Metro East. Lutheran) returns to the team this seasonafter recording 14 goals and also being named SLIAC Newcomer of theYear award last season after transferring from Fontbonne University. Seniordefender Peter Claassen (McPherson, Kan., HS) also rounds out the returningall-conference performers.In the defense along with Claassen, the Panthers welcome backsophomore Terrance Cosby (Jefferson City, Mo., HS) after sitting out lastseason with a foot injury. Newcomer Stephen Beam (St. Louis, Mo., DeSmet)and sophomore returning starter Chris Allen (Decatur, Ill., Eisenhower) willhelp to anchor a defense that has been in the top five in goals against averageeach of the past five years. The 2004 version of the Panthers led the nation ingoals against average (0.62) and posted 11 shutouts on the season. In onestretch, they held their opponents scoreless in six straight games.In the goal, junior returning starter Joel Robinson (Decatur, Ill., HS),Will Lange (St. Louis, Mo., Vianney HS) and transfers Jon Day(Edwardsville, Ill., HS / Ole Miss) and Nathan Haas (Belleville, Ill.,Missouri Baptist) will help to solidify the nets.In the attack for the Panthers aresophomore twin brothers Jake and JoeMadden (St. Louis, Mo., Vianney HS),senior Alan Ramirez (San Christobal,Guatemala), and juniors Tom Reinken(Morton, Ill., HS) and Justin Herfst (Campbellville,Ontario). All have valuable experience cominginto the season which will be relied upon.Greenville brings in a solid recruitingclass of 14 new players from across the countrythat complements the squad’s previous classesof talented newcomers. Freshmen forwardsJeff Arsenault (Crestwood, Ky., HS), Daniel Taylor (St. Louis, Mo., Crosspoint)and David Dunlop (Colerain, N. Ireland) will provide immediate contributionwhile defenders Stephen Beam (St. Louis, Mo., DeSmet) and Dan Ringkamp(St. Louis, Mo., Vianney) will solidify the nets. Kyle Albenesis (San Bernardino,Calif., HS) and Andy Gibb Clark (Moline, Ill, East) also help to round out a verytalented class for the Panthers.Also for the third year to the Greenville program is the reserve team.With 40 players trying out for the team this year, Greenville has the luxury ofplaying a complete 10-game reserve team schedule. Coaching the reserveteam this year will be Greenville alum Tommy Simpson. During Tommy’scareer at Greenville as a player, he was the leading point getter all four yearswhile receiving all-conference and All-American honors.Brian McMahon is in his eighth year as head men’s soccer coach andseventh year as head women’s soccer coach at Greenville College. Now in his16th year of coaching soccer, McMahon has coached in the club, high school,and collegiate settings.In McMahon’s tenure as coach at Greenville he has recorded 125 winsin eight seasons. In addition, under McMahon’s direction he has coachedeight NCCAA All-Americans, 49 SLIAC All-Conference performers, sevenNCAA All-Region, two CoSIDA Academic All-Americans, and six ProfessionalDevelopment Players. In 2004 senior Seth Huber (Coffeen, Ill., HS) was namedthe Kyle Rote Jr. Award winner which is given to the outstanding player ofthe year in the NCCAA.As a player, McMahon competed at Indiana Wesleyan University wherehe received NCCAA regional and national honors. During his four yearsat IWU, he competed in the NAIA regional final four two times while alsoqualifying twice for the NCCAA National Tournament. He also was given theopportunity to compete in England, Ireland, and North Ireland with Athletesin Action following his career.McMahon graduated from Indiana Wesleyan University in 1998 with abachelor of science degree in psychology. Following graduation, McMahonearned his certified chemical dependency counselor (CCDC) licensewhile counseling juvenile delinquents in a treatment facility. In 2002, hecompleted a master’s degree in sports psychology at Southern IllinoisUniversity Edwardsville.In addition to his coaching responsibilities, McMahon is the SLIACmen’s soccer chair and serves on the NCAA and NSCAA central regionranking committees.McMahon currently resides in Greenville, Ill., with his wife Jen who alsoworks at the college as an admissions counselor. They currentlyhave one daughter, MacKenzie (2/9/07), and are expectingtwins this season with a due date of October 11.Taking into account the return of eight startersfrom the 2007 squad and the addition of eightquality incoming players the Panthers should again becontenders for the SLIAC conference championship.Senior mid-fielderbrian limbaugh