Men’s Soccer Shows Promise in Season-Opener

The Eagles' men's soccer team opened its 2024 season with a good showing in a 1-0 loss to a strong Truckee Meadows team Sunday in Weed.

Goalkeeper Oliver Gregory, one of two returning all-conference players on the roster, had 10 saves. Truckee Meadows scored the game's only goal late in the second half.

It was an earlier than usual first home game and promising start for Siskiyous, which has a roster of 22 players, including 8 sophomores and 15 international student-athletes, mostly from the United Kingdom.

"Player for player we're more talented than we have been in a while," said Ed Kephart, who has been the Eagles' head men's and women's soccer coach since the program began in 2016 and is again being assisted by Jake Leiffer of Weed.

Kephart said the Eagles' starting 11 also looked good while dominating the first half of a scrimmage at Southwest Oregon Community College the previous Friday.

Goalkeeper Gregory, from Doncaster, United Kingdom, and defender Agustin Mateos of Buenos Aires, Argentina, both earned 1st Team All-Golden Valley Conference honors last year.

Kephart describes Gregory as "arguably the best goalkeeper in conference." He ranked second in the GVC last year with 66 saves.

Kephart said Mateos, who was second on the team in goals and assists last year and tied for 4th in conference with 6 goals, will have more of an attacking role this fall.

Another sophomore, midfielder Yahir Alanis from Del Norte High School in Crescent City, is a versatile player who returns after starting 16 games during a good freshman season.

Sophomores on the roster are:

Goalkeepers: No. 1 Oliver Gregory of Doncaster, United Kingdom, and No. 30 Benjamin Lewis of South Hampton, United Kingdom.

Defenders: No. 2 Joe Palmer of Slough, United Kingdom, No. 8 Agustin Mateos of Buenos Aires, Argentina, No. 15 Alex Lopez of Ashland, OR, and No. 17 Alfie Jenner of Seaford, United Kingdom.

Midfielder: No. 6 Yahir Alanis of Smith River.

Forward: No. 10 Morgan Robson of Melbourn, United Kingdom.

Freshmen on the roster are:

Goalkeepers: No. 0 Freddy Edmonds of Palm View, Australia, and No. 31 Cassius Hamilton of Phoenix, AZ.

Defenders: No. 4 Gabriel Pottecher Kelly of Stone, United Kingdom, No. 5 Josef Wetz of Eagle Crest, CO, No. 9 Mason Doran of Mount Shasta, No. 18 Devonn Glasford of Reading, United Kingdom, and No. 23 Joe Collen-Dindar of Reading, United Kingdom.

Forwards: No. 7 Elliott De La Haye Friend of Jersey, United Kingdom, No. 11 Keane Brown of Basildon, United Kingdom, and No. 12 Evan Stienike of Johnstown, CO.

Midfielders: No. 14 Kaden Burch of Seaside, OR, No. 19 Omar Casas of Monterey, No. 21 Kian Herdman of Neath, United Kingdom, and No. 24 Harrison Frewin of Berkshire, United Kingdom.

Among this year's talented freshmen, Kephart said Harrison Frewin is a very good center midfielder, Kaden Burch is a "dynamic goal-scoring midfielder," and Devonn Glasford and Joe Collen-Dindar, who played at the same academy together in Reading, United Kingdom, are anchoring the Eagles' back line.

The Eagles' men's rosters have featured international players for many years, which Kephart says stems from meeting people from all over the world during his 25 years of coaching college soccer.

"In Great Britain, once kids are released from their youth academies, that's kind of it for them," said Kephart. "There's more opportunity for them to keep going here than there. It's a bit of a culture shock for a kid coming from London to Weed, but they fall in love with it here and get a lot of attention because of their accents. And they can open the eyes of local kids when we do youth soccer events and clinics."

Before they start the GVC season at home against Shasta on September 27, the Eagles will have one more preseason match on their home field, September 20 against Yuba.

While Shasta has returned to the conference after getting its new soccer program rolling, Kephart said Lassen has dropped both men's and women's soccer.

He expects a tight men's race in the GVC this fall, with not much separating the six teams: Siskiyous, Shasta, Redwoods, Butte, Feather River, and Lake Tahoe.

Kephart believes the Eagles are better than they've been in the recent past and can be in the thick of it in conference.

Last year, Lake Tahoe finished first at 9-0-1 in the GVC, followed by Feather River (6-1-3), Butte (6-2-2), Siskiyous (3-7), Lassen (3-7), and Redwoods (0-10).