CONWAY, Ark. – The 2024 season is finally here for the Central Arkansas men's soccer team, who host Evangel on Thursday. With a 7:30 p.m. kickoff, the Bears are set to bring back a potentially dangerous squad under head coach
Frank Kohlenstein.
With two exhibitions in the rear view, the time has come for the Bears to start the season putting the right foot forward. The team brings back a plethora of talent from last year's team, including First Team All-ASUN forward
Pietro Fontana. With the most goals by a Bear in five years, Fontana had 12 goals a season ago, and enters his junior season with 14 career scores. He will be joined in the attack by
Devonte Richards, who had three goals and five assists, as well as
Sohma Ichikawa, who led the Bears with six assists.
Defensively, Central Arkansas returns a pair of defenders who logged a ton of minutes along the back line.
Elijah Bishop, now a sophomore, led the team with 1,502 minutes of action last season.
Josh Baros also returns to assist the defense after putting in 1,259 minutes on the pitch. In goal,
Javier Ramirez and
Connor Wachtel split last season between the posts, making 73 saves between the pair.
Evangel, an NAIA program, finished last season with a 5-6-6 record. After cruising through a nonconference schedule with a 4-0 record, the Valor struggled in the Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference. But bolstered by the two top scorers from last season, Ted Okoroh (5 goals, six assists) and Igor Ovcarevic (3 goals, 4 assists), the Valor look to rebound in 2024.
Thursday's match, despite being played between two schools less than 200 miles apart, will feature athletes from 22 countries spanning all six habitable continents. The Bears have student-athletes from 11 countries, with new additions from Portugal, Canada, Mexico and Germany, and Evangel featuring student-athletes from places like Zimbabwe, New Zealand, and Serbia.
Thursday's match is set for 7:30 at the Bill Stephens Track and Soccer Complex. The match will be streamed on ESPN+, with live stats available online.
