SAINT PETER, Minn. – The 2022 Gustavus Athletics fall season gets underway Thursday at home as the Gustie men’s soccer team hosts Wartburg at 3 p.m. in the first official contest of the season. Gustavus is hoping to improve on a 2021 season that saw the team go 14-5-0 overall and 8-3-0 in the MIAC for a second place tie, while suffering a first round exit in the conference postseason.
“Last season didn’t have the end we envisioned,” Head Coach Tudor Flintham said, who is now in his fifth season at the helm. “This group has such high standards and is used to winning trophies, so I think last year’s finish lit a fire under them. There’s a different level of focus. They’ve also been really intentional about the non-soccer components of our program, such as re-discovering our values and our culture. It’s been a really fun part of the last seven to eight months. There’s a group of guys that have been there, done it, and won. They’ve reset and are ready to go again.”
The 2022 Gusties return two All-Conference selections from last season in Jared Hecht (So., Apple Valley) and Otis Anderson (Jr., Minneapolis). Hecht also earned United Soccer Coaches Second Team All-America and MIAC Defensive Player of the Year honors in 2021. Hecht and Anderson played integral roles in the Gusties limiting opposing teams to 7.4 shots and 1.05 goals per game. Anderson added two goals and four assists for eight points.
Ethan Glissenforf (Jr., Sioux Falls, S.D.) was another key component in the Gusties’ back line last year, while Wesley Sanders (Sr., Urbandale, Iowa) played the bulk of the minutes at keeper. Sanders posted a 1.32 goals against average and .660 save percentage in nearly 1100 minutes.
“Wes, Otis, Ethan, and Jared are right at the heart of our defense,” Flintham said. “A lot of what we do comes from them. There’s also guys like Nate Rouaud (Sr.,Vail, Colo.) who is back after being gone all last year with an injury.”
The Gustavus front features the return of Raphael Cattelin (Jr., Edina), who was limited to just five games last season after suffering an injury. Cattelin was an offensive leader during the 2019 MIAC championship season where he earned All-Region and All-Conference honors. Alex Krumenauer (Jr., Otsego) will see an elevated role this season after recording five points in 11 games last year. Joining the fray is true freshmen Rivaldo Pena (Fy., Rochester), alongside transfers Clearance Weah (So., Minnetonka) and Jack Knight (Jr., Verona, Wis.). Weah played in three games last season at Division I Drake University, while Knight played last season for the University of Utah.
“Raphael Catellin is back and looking like Raph again, which is obviously awesome for us,” Flintham said. “We have a really nice core. Rivaldo Pena is a very nice player that we expect to have a role, Clearance Weah is someone that the Minnesota soccer community knows well, and Jack Knight is another transfer that’s coming to us from Utah who’s going to add a scoring threat. We have a nice balance with this team.”
Ethan Miller (So., St. Cloud), Owen Johnson (Jr., Apple Valley), and Nick Katzman (Jr., Minneapolis) are top returning scorers from last season. Miller posted six goals and four assists for 16 points, Johnson had two goals and a team-leading 11 assists for 15 points, and Katzman added four goals and an assist for five points.
“Discussing as a coaching staff, we’ve tiered our players and we feel we have 18 starters,” Flintham said. “Our starting 11 could be made up of any of those 18 players, which is very strong in our sport. We then have another pool of seven or eight guys who we would feel comfortable playing in first-team games right now and then we’ll see with some of the other younger guys.”