Aug. 16, 2002

ABILENE, Texas - After going to the NCAA Championships each of the last two year's, the Hardin-Simmons men's soccer team wants to take it to the next level in 2002.

The Cowboys will be led by seniors Charles Johnson and Scott Ballard. Johnson, a captain, started at goalkeeper last season and had 82 saves and a 1.45 goals against average. Ballard, a steady and determined defender, will shore up the Cowboys' defense in his senior season.

"For us to obtain our goals as a team we have to get good senior leadership." said fourth-year head coach Kevin Wardlaw. "We have to have chemisty, because we may not be as talented as we have been in the past."

For offense the Cowboys will look to sophomore James Burton. The forward from Corpus Christi had 20 goals and four assists in his rookie campaign. The Cowboys are still looking for another forward and it will likely come from sophomore Calvin Key and/or Chris Carroll, a transfer from Texas Christian.

HSU returns its most experience in the midfield. Juniors Matt Leach, Jeff Brooks and Adrian Romero will occupy three spots. Leach and Romero have been elected captains as juniors and Brooks, who moved from forward to the midfield, is the Christian influence the team relies on. All three have had solid careers as back-ups and now is their time to shine. Freshman Chris Garza will see playing time in the midfield.

The defense is in good hands with junior Marcus Jackson, an All-ASC player last season and the team MVP. He will be joined by sophomores Nick Pugh and Trevor Elza, who gives the Cowboys some needed size on defense. Freshman Brad Barham will also see plenty of action.

"We are a different team this year and the American Southwest Conference is getting tougher every year," said Wardlaw. "We are not as deep and we are going to have to outwork some teams to win some games this year."

The Cowboys hope to get back to the NCAA Tournament. The first goal is to win the ASC West Division, which gives the Cowboys the right to host the ASC Tournament. The winner of that tournament gets an automatic berth into the NCAA Tournament.

It will be a more difficult challenge this year than in the past, but don't put it past this group of team-oriented Cowboys.