University of Mary Hardin-Baylor Athletics

Click here for a video interview with head coach Brad Bankhead.

Belton, TX – The 2010 edition of the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor men’s soccer team opened defense of its American Southwest Conference regular season championship when the team reported to campus today. Head coach Brad Bankhead welcomed a group of 31 student-athletes to campus today. That group includes 18 returners from last season’s ASC regular season champion.

            “It has been a long summer and we are really excited because we’ve got a strong nucleus coming back,” Bankhead said. “We also feel like we have a really good group of newcomers. We know that last year doesn’t really have much impact other than to know what it takes to get to the national tournament and that we know that we can get there.”

            One reason those expectations are so high is the way the 2009 season finished up for the Cru men’s soccer team. The UMHB men won the ASC regular season title and hosted the ASC Championship Tournament for the first time in school history. The Cru played Hardin-Simmons to a scoreless draw in the ASC Championship match before the Cowboys won the ASC title in a shootout. UMHB then earned the first NCAA Division III National Championships berth in the history of the program and also earned a home game. The Cru again fell to Hardin-Simmons 2-0 in that contest.

            The group of 18 returners from that team includes eight starters. UMHB finished last season with a 14-4-1 overall record and the Cru went 11-2 in ASC play. The first practice of the 2010 fall camp will be tomorrow morning at the Cru Soccer Complex. The UMHB men will open the 2010 season by hosting the ASC-SCAC Challenge on September 3-5^th. The Cru will face Southwestern University and Trinity University in a four-team tournament that will also feature U.T.-Tyler.