Soccer recruits expected to produce
By Margo Consul
The men's soccer team signed five new recruits last week as the team works to regain their competitiveness within the WCC.
"I'm really excited about guys that we have," said Head Coach Cameron Rast. "We have guys that can break guys down on the dribble and we have guys that score in the air. When you have all of those, teams are not going to be able to contain all of it."
Four of the five incoming players are from California, while the other recruit is from Texas. All five are U.S. Soccer Development Academy players.
Keigo Kameya (Cupertino, Calif.), Carlos Montes (San Jose), Mark Daus (Plano, Texas), Phillip Muscarella (Camarillo, Calif.) and Michael Gates (Pasadena, Calif.) are the team's newest additions.
Kameya is the brother of current Bronco Takahide Kameya. His addition completes a second set of brothers on the team, freshman Devin and junior Ricky Character make up the other set. Rast is looking forward to mixing and matching the brothers to create a powerful frontline.
"Keigo is very different than his brother," Rast said. "He's very good at scoring goals with his head. He loves to put pressure on teams...I think he just needs a little bit more maturing in terms of being a forward."
Having brothers on the team gives the Broncos the upper-hand in terms of chemistry.
"When we partner (Keigo) with his brother I think it's going to be a great combination. They'll understand how to play together and when you have that kind of understanding things become very synergistic," Rast said.
Montes has the potential to be a future standout because of the unique talent he will bring to the game.
"He can make the game slow down," Rast said, mentioning that this is a hard skill to gain because of the quick decisions and technicality involved.
"We hope that he will adjust quickly so we can use that right away, because the college game can be fast and physical," Rast said.
The only out of state player, Daus, is being looked to for his leadership qualities. Rast sees Daus' strengths as being able to understand the game on the tactical side.
Rast predicts that Southern California players Gates and Muscarella will bring their own flare to the team.
"Phil played multiple sports; he played football so he's definitely got toughness to him, and an edge to him; he's powerful and he's strong," Rast said.
"He's definitely got a southern California mentality...I would say a kind of dude-ish mentality," commented Rast. "That personality is really important to us because I think guys can enjoy one another."
Gates is looked to be the go to guy for the team and to fill roles as needed.
"(He) is kind of the behind the scenes guy," Rast said.
Gates, alongside his four incoming counterparts, will be expected to bring a newly sparked energy with them when next season rolls around.
Contact Margo Consul at mconsul@scu.edu or (408) 551-1918.