Young Army men's soccer team seeks to reverse fortunes from difficult 2023 season

WEST POINT – The Army men’s soccer team was in the thick of Patriot League title contention in both 2021 and 2022 but the Black Knights’ fortunes took a turn for the worse in 2023. A slew of transfer portal losses and injuries took their toll and Army failed to win a match after Sept. 16, finishing 3-9-4.

Head coach Brian Plotkin says last season was “an aberration” and expects a bounceback, even though the Black Knights are fielding one of the youngest NCAA Division I teams in the nation: Army has 12 freshmen, 10 sophomores, seven juniors and just one senior.

“I think that just means they’re energetic, they’re passionate and they’re ready to kind of go and find out what they’re capable of,’’ the fourth-year head coach said. “For me, that’s a pretty exciting recipe for the group.’’

The 104th season of Army men’s soccer gets underway Thursday at Temple University. Following are non-league contests with powerhouse Penn State and Air Force on the road, with Sacred Heart, Marist and Saint Joseph’s rounding out the slate.

Army has been tabbed to place seventh in the Patriot League preseason coaches poll – only the top six make the postseason. Hoping to use the poll as motivation for his players, Plotkin said: “I think for our group it’s good to know in one way … the rest of the league looks at you as a team that’s not going to be good enough to play in the Patriot League tournament.

“Ultimately, this group knows they’ve got a lot to prove,’’ Plotkin added.

Not a single Army player was named to the preseason all-star team but Plotkin believes his team has depth at every position. Expected to contribute in the starting lineup are junior midfielder Jack Meyer (a team captain) and sophomores Kelly Cooper at center-back and forwards Jubril Bamgbala and Gage Lyons. Sophomore midfielder Riley Cullum is also emerging.

Plotkin said the Army way is “to control the game, with and without the ball, and we can do that with our pressure. We can do that with possession. We want to play fast. We want to play forward. We want to get behind teams.’’

Army was a Patriot semifinalist in 2021 and 2022, winning the regular-season title in the latter. The three wins in 2023 was the lowest mark in a full season since 2010.

“Last year was last year and now it's this group's challenge to prove that the first two years of my time here are the norm,’’ Plotkin said.

kmcmillan@th-record.com

X / Twitter: @KenMcMillanTHR

2024 schedule

(2023: 3-9-4, 1-5-3 Patriot, ninth)

August

Thur. 22 – at Temple (3-8-4, 2-4-2 American Athletic, sixth), 7 p.m.; Sun. 25 – at Penn State (10-4-5, 4-2-2 Big Ten, third), 5 p.m.; Thur. 29 – at Air Force (1-14-2, 1-5-1 Western Athletic, ninth), 8 p.m. ET

September

Mon. 2 – Sacred Heart (6-8-5, 3-2-3 Metro Atlantic, seventh), 6 p.m.; Thur. 5 – Marist (6-8-3, 4-4-2 Metro Atlantic, fifth), 6 p.m.; Mon. 9 – at Saint Joseph’s (4-11-2, 2-4-2 Atlantic 10, eleventh), 4 p.m.; Sat. 14 – at Boston University* (12-4-4, 7-1-1 Patriot, first), 1 p.m.; Sat. 21 – Lehigh* (3-10-5, 2-5-2 Patriot, eighth), 7 p.m.; Sat. 28 – Lafayette* (9-6-6, 4-2-3 Patriot, third), 6 p.m.

October

Tues. 1 – Rider (12-4-4, 6-2-2 Metro Atlantic, third), 6 p.m.; Sat. 5 – American* (6-5-5, 3-3-3 Patriot, sixth), 1 p.m.; Fri. 11 – vs. Navy* (6-8-5, 3-2-4 Patriot, fifth), at Chester, Pa., 7 p.m.; Tues. 15 – at Princeton, 7 p.m.; Sun. 20 – Bucknell* (2-10-4, 1-6-2 Patriot, tenth), 1 p.m.; Sat. 26 – at Holy Cross* (5-10-3, 2-5-2 Patriot, seventh), 6 p.m.

November

Fri. 1 – Loyola, Md.* (7-3-8, 6-1-2 Patriot, second), 6 p.m.; Tues. 5 – at Colgate* (8-10-2, 4-3-2 Patriot, fourth), 6 p.m.; Sat. 9 – Patriot League playoffs

Home matches played at West Point’s Malek Stadium at Clinton Field; asterisk marks Patriot League match

2024 roster

Seniors: No. 37 Aiden Rice, GK

Juniors: No. 0 Harrison Faulkner, GK; No. 4 Eric Lusskin, MF; No. 9 Jack Drabenstott, F; No. 14 Jacob Lee, F; No. 15 Niko Kapustin, D; No. 17 Jack Meyer, MF; No. 28 Sean Abu-Gyamfi, MF

Sophomores: No. 3 Owen Ennis, D; No. 5 Kelly Cooper, D; No. 6 Colin McCarthy, MF; No. 7 Riley Cullum, MF; No. 8 Reef McGee, MF; No. 10 Jubril Bamgbala, F; No. 11 Gage Lyons, F; No. 13 Owen Mejia, D; No. 25 Daniel Gormley, D; No. 34 Keanu Likewise, GK

Freshmen: No. 00 Blair Camargo, GK; No. 1 Michael Guiry, GK; No. 2 Kasem Minzey, D; No. 16 Justin Davidyock, MF; No. 18 Ryan Behrmann, MF; No. 20 Kai Thomas, F; No. 21 Ronald Zhai, F; No. 22 Miles Hadley, D; No. 23 Jack Kryger, F; No. 24 Curtis Boozer, D; No. 27 Liam Tucker, D; No. 33 Andrew Kim, D

Coaches: Brian Plotkin (head); Jonathan Delano (associate); Chris Koch (assistant); Steven Ortiz (assistant)

This article originally appeared on Times Herald-Record: Young Army men's soccer team seeks to reverse fortunes from difficult 2023 season