BY: Allison Singleterry
Auburn University at Montgomery’s men’s soccer team kicks off a new season with new Head Coach Matthew Thorne and Graduate Assistant Coach Joe White.
Thorne became the head coach of the men’s soccer program back in December and is now coaching his first official season as a head coach this semester. Thorne was a graduate assistant coach at AUM back in 2007. Before coming back to AUM, Thorne coached at the University of West Alabama, where he led the team to win the conference championship four years in a row.
White was hired just before the 2019 season. White came to AUM from Signaw State University in Signaw, Mich. where he was the Head Goalkeeper Coach for the men’s and women’s team.
With this being the first year AUM is officially NCAA Division II, there are a lot of hopes of success for a competitive season ahead. Thorne added 22 new players to the roster and had 12 players return. When asked how the team thinks they will do throughout the season, Senior Captain Tate Dean said, “We are a whole new team, so it’s hard to judge.”
This year, all AUM sports have the opportunity to compete in the conference playoffs. The Gulf South Conference pre-season polls has predicted AUM finishing eight in the conference. Dean says a goal for their team this season is to “reach the playoffs and then win in the finals.” The team has to reach top eight to be able to participate in post-season play.
Though these goals are still attainable, the team started off slow and has a current record of 0-2 after taking a 2-0 loss from #10 Palm Beach Atlantic University and a 1-0 loss from Webber International University. Pre-conference games count toward the team’s overall record, but they don’t count toward conference rankings. The team’s first conference game is Sept. 22 against Union University played in Jackson, Tenn.
The team’s next home game is Sept. 18 against Georgia Southwestern State University. They will play a total of 17 games in regular season play and end the season playing against Christian Brothers University at Memphis, Tenn.
