By: Athletic Communications Student Intern Jason Hughes '21
BEREA, Ohio - Led by veteran head coach Reid Ayers, the Baldwin Wallace University men's soccer team is ready to take the pitch for its 2021 Ohio Athletic Conference spring season.
During its last season of play in 2019, BW finished with an overall record of 11-9, including a 4-5 record in Ohio Athletic Conference play. Ayers is returning 15 letterwinners, which includes five seniors, eight juniors and 12 sophomores. The Yellow Jackets also welcome 12 freshmen to the team who look to make an immediate impact.
BW's offense will be led by junior midfielder Dylan Keeling (Rocky River). In 2019, Keeling was the Yellow Jackets' third-leading scorer with five goals, five assists and 15 points and also took the second most shots on goal for the team.
Also leading the offensive charge for the Yellow Jackets will be senior forward Kemor Turner (Westmoreland, Jamaica/Manning's), senior forward Alex Wight (Trinidad & Tobago/Holy Cross College), junior forward Matt Begin (Springfield, Mass./Ludlow), junior forward Peter Petri (Toronto, Ontario, Canada/Senator O'Connor), sophomore forward Shaheen Ghahremani (Streetsboro) and sophomore forward/midfielder Nick Telisman (Wickliffe).
The midfield will be patrolled by senior Academic All-OAC midfielder Bryce Posner (Aurora), senior midfielder Owen Feeley (Elma, N.Y./Iroquois), junior Academic All-OAC midfielder Attila Nagy Jr. (Lakewood), sophomore midfielder Brandon Garibotti (Berea/Berea-Midpark), sophomore midfielder Kyle Eddy (Lewis Center/Olentangy) and sophomore midfielder Andras Fabian (Hinckley/Highland). The group combined for seven goals, 10 assists and 24 points in 2019.
Sophomore midfielder Laye Souare (Ann Arbor, Mich./Huron), junior midfielder Jason Lambert (Baden, Pa./Ambridge) and sophomore midfielder Jake Taggart (Wooster/Triway) will give the Yellow Jackets added depth in the middle.
On the back line, BW will be guided by junior two-time All-OAC and Academic All-OAC defender Trevor Hamm (Strongsville). He started in all 20 games and was a defensive cornerstone for the Yellow Jackets in 2019 en route to the team's Defensive Player of the Year Award.
The defense will also be strengthened by senior Armand Whitt (Birmingham, Ala./Clay-Chalkville), junior Reed Watkins (Munster, Ind.) and sophomores Zach Hoover (Chagrin Falls) and Alex Klek (Olmsted Falls), who each played significant roles in 2019.
Three sophomore goalkeepers will be returning in net for BW this season between Matt Weaver (Ontario), Nolan Kellogg (Strongsville) and JT Brenneman (Willoughby/Wickliffe). Each saw action in the net in 2019 with Kellogg seeing the most time in five total games.
BW is welcoming 12 freshmen to the team for the 2021 season. Among the newcomers are forwards Micahel Tusick (Strongsville) and Brody Ritter (Clarence, N.Y./Central). New to the midfield will be Alex Gibson (Olmsted Township/Olmsted Falls), Julian Kieres (Lakewood), Kalembe Kipata (Cleveland/Lincoln West), Ryan Stransky (Copley) and Anthony Cora (North Olmsted/Benedictine). The back end will be adding defenders CJ Kessler (Madison), Diego Cebrian (Carrollton, Texas/MacArthur), David Kelley (Santa Paula, Calif./Ventura), Connor Walsh (Strongsville/Holy Name) and Brandon Worthy (Cleveland/Lincoln West).
The Yellow Jackets begin the 2021 season on the road as they travel to Bexley for an OAC game against Capital University on Sunday, March 14, at 2 p.m.
