The Carthage College men's soccer team (0-0, 0-0 College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin), coached by Steve Domin (157-120-30, 16 years), opens its 2011 season with a trip to Southern California.
Following a Monday, Aug. 29 scrimmage at Claremont-Mudd-Scripps College in Claremont, Calif., the Red Men open the season with a Thursday, Sept. 1 game at the University of Redlands, beginning at 7 p.m., PST at Farquhar Field in Redlands, Calif. On Saturday, Sept. 3, Carthage takes on Pomona-Pitzer College in a Noon, PST contest at Merritt Field, also in Claremont.
Carthage returns three All-CCIW players from last year's 11-7-2 team that advanced to the semifinals of the CCIW Men's Soccer Tournament. Forward Aleks Urosevic (Sr., Skokie, Ill./Wilmette-Loyola Academy, 5 goals, 1 assist) was named first-team All-CCIW, with defender Zak Khoshbin (Sr., Hawthorn Woods, Ill./Lake Zurich, 1 goal) and midfielder Greg Pignataro (Jr., Algonquin, Ill./Jacobs, 3 goals, 3 assists) earning second-team all-conference honors.
On the weekend following the Southern California trip, Carthage flies east to play in the Rutgers-Newark “Raider Classic” in Newark, N.J. On Saturday, Sept. 10, the Red Men play Drew University in an 11 a.m., EDT game Alumni Field, followed by a Sunday, Sept. 11 contest against the host-Scarlet Raiders at Noon, EDT.
The Southern California trip the previous weekend covers approximately 3,500 miles, round trip, and the New Jersey excursion is an additional 1,444 miles, round trip. The two trips combined, coast-to-coast, total just under 5,000 miles.
