UDC Men’s Soccer Travels to Shippensburg, PA to Open 2011 Season Against Felician and Goldey Beacom
Washington, DC - The University of the District of Columbia Men's Soccer program opens up the 2011 campaign under new Head Coach Matt Thompson. The Firebirds travel to a tournament at Shippensburg University where they will take on Felician College and Goldey Beacom College over a three day span. The season officially begins Friday, September 2nd, when the Firebirds take on Goldey Beacom College at 5:00 pm. After a one day hiatus, the Firebirds will be back at it at 3:00 pm against Felician College
UDC is coming off a 4-13-1 season in 2010, but the program is ripe with optimism under new Head Coach, Matthew L. Thompson. Thompson took over the helm of the Firebirds as head coach in June of 2011. Thompson came to UDC from Lees McRae College, where he led the Bobcats to a 13-5-3 record, winning the 2010 Conference Carolinas Regular Season and Conference Tournament Championships as well as earning a 2010 NCAA Championship berth.
The Firebirds will be led by 9 returning players including Adriel Garcia (Brazil), Tansu Korkmaz (Turkey), and Nana Bamfo (Ghana). Many new faces have arrived at UDC as well under Head Coach Matt Thompson, and the Firebirds will look to a mix of veterans and younger players to start the season off this weekend. Coach Thompson on the beginning of the season, "It has been a challenging preseason with both a hurricane and an earthquake hitting Washington, DC in one week, but our team has been training hard, and we are looking forward to seeing what we have. We are a bit young, and with most young teams hopefully we will get better as the season progresses. The team is looking forward to getting out there and getting going, so it should be a good weekend."
The UDC Athletic Department joined the East Coast Conference (ECC) effective July 1, 2011, and this season marks the last for the men's soccer program as an independent. The Firebirds will compete in a full ECC schedule in the 2012 season.