Saints Season Preview

May 22nd, 2015

Charlie Hatch

As the Cincinnati Saints close in on their May 23rd home opener, the club is focused on creating a culture that will have both immediate and long-term success.

The Saints are Cincinnati’s longest running club—five and a half years old—keeping relatively quiet, but owner David Satterwhite said it’s time to make a big splash on the city.

“We’ve been really methodical in how we’ve built it,” Satterwhite said. “Now we have roughly 48 guys on the men’s side and the reserves…we’re hoping with marketing we’ll be able to build a fan base and get the city behind us.”

The Saints enter the 2015 National Premier Soccer League (NPSL) campaign with two main objectives— to qualify for the U.S. Open Cup and to improve in the league standings from 2014. Last season they finished last in the Great Lakes West Conference.

“This time last year we were playing with a squad of 20 players, 18 players,” said second-year coach Dave Wall. “Obviously 12 months on we’ve implemented a reserve team. We’ve added the depth to 46-48 players, so that’s pleasing to our end. It’s exciting there are so many players in the city that want to be a part of it and come out and play at this level.”

While Saturday night’s clash with FC Indiana is Cincinnati’s first home fixture, they played their season opener at FC Buffalo last week. FC Buffalo won 2-1.

The squad has begun implementing its new identity, playing a 4-2-3-1 formation. Here’s a breakdown by position.

Goalkeeping

Justin Saliba, a 6-foot-5 junior at the University of Dayton, was the starter in the first match, but he split time between the pipes with Corey Whisenhunt in a preseason friendly against the Dayton Dutch Lions.

In addition, the Saints have Anton Niklasson, Josh Weiss and French-born Anthony Galvan to rotate on the roster and with the reserve team.

The Saints’ big departure from the 2014 campaign was captain Jamie Starr, who decided to coach on the touchline with Wall as opposed to play.

“It’s time for me to move on,” Starr said. “There’s some days I’d like to get back out there, but I enjoy still being around the game, being around the guys and moving into a different phase of my career, so it’s good.”

Defenders

The backline has the most depth of the Saint’s roster. After picking up an injury in a preseason friendly, James Thomas was replaced by Nathan Sexton as right-center back. When he’s healthy, Thomas has been the club’s captain.

“The No. 1 word I’d use to describe our team is depth,” Thomas said. “It’s a lot, lot deeper…this year having at least 40 guys means a lot deeper pool, and the quality is a lot better throughout the team.”

Gary Henderson has been the feature right back, along with Drew Midkiff as the left-center back. The left back position has rotated recently between Kwame Sarkodie and RJ Best.

“Personally for us, this season is about putting together a better showing as far as within the standings of the league,” Thomas said. “We’re definitely going to try to come away with more wins this season and we’re setting ourselves up to do that.”

Midfield

After leading the team in scoring in 2014 as a forward, Marc Hansson has dropped back to play an outside-attacking mid role, which he said allows him to have more space to play.

“It’s a little bit different, but it allows me to run more,” Hansson said. “I’m using my pace a little bit more and connecting with Kwame Sarkodie on the left side. That’s made it a little easier to make those runs inside and underneath the defenders, which I like.”

Hansson mentioned an established relationship between himself and Sarkodie, but against Buffalo, both lined up as attacking mids. Wall mentioned that availability will play a factor in determining who can play and at what positions.

Phil Hagerty started the preseason as a center back and scored the winner over Dayton. In week one, he played as an attacking center-mid and scored, as well. Hagerty will most likely float between the positions, with the possibility of taking a holding mid role.

Forward

The main emphasis from the attacking players will be replicating Hansson’s goal totals from 2014 into 2015. Wall plays with one forward to hold up the ball in the attacking third and distribute to wide targets.

Craig Herd started the first match, with Mohammed Saleih replacing him in the second half. Andre Sharpe will probably rotate as an attacking mid and the lone forward position, while Luke Maitland, Joshua Henderson and Jason Tackis also rotating on the pitch.

Looking ahead

Wall said he’s excited to see his squad in their home opener against FC Indiana. He said some of the midweek preparations focused on things he noticed when the clubs met in indoor this winter, but the majority of concentration is on internal development.

He’s also said he wants to win “99.9 percent” of home fixtures. Saturday night at 7 p.m. will be his first chance.

New confines

With Stargel Stadium undergoing turf renovations this season, the Saints have relocated to Withrow’s Angus King Stadium. When the club played the Dayton Dutch Lions in a friendly there, the Saints won 2-1, with goals coming from Hansson and Hagerty.

“This is obviously new scenery for us, for me especially,” Wall said. “Some of the team has played here in years past. Taft was very good downtown, a beautiful backdrop with the city. It was a change this year because of the developments happening down at the Taft school. We’re here for a year and then we go back and hopefully get a good fan base downtown.”

Satterwhite said the focus for the Saints is keeping the team central in Cincinnati.

“It’s all about keeping it in the city,” he said.