In his six seasons as SUNY Potsdam head men's soccer coach, Adam Parker has steadily raised expectations for his Bears and brought in players that could meet them. 2015 was another breakthrough for a program that he has rebuilt since his arrival in 2010. After two straight seasons of matching the school single-season wins record, the team broke it with a 10-8-1 mark last year. The Bears also used a late season surge to post a 4-4-1 record in the SUNYAC and make the playoffs for the third straight year and fourth time in six seasons.
 
A red hot start to the fall included a 1-0 win over nationally eighth-ranked St. Lawrence University, the first over the Saints in 10 seasons. Potsdam also reached another major benchmark that Parker laid out for the program, its first ever regional ranking. The Bears moved to No. 8 in the National Soccer Coaches Association of America East Region Poll.
 
The success came from years of hard work and experience and in May Potsdam graduated 11 players that comprised the winningest class in program history. The Bears will look to fill the holes left by the departure of All-SUNYAC defender Alex Griffith and All-SUNYAC striker Ben Firlit and will miss the playmaking ability of Tom Benedetto, the school's all-time assist leader. However, Benedetto, who's judgement Parker always trusted as a player, returns as his assistant coach this year.
 
A new beginning seems to seems to be the theme for this year's team. 13 new faces join the program this season, including three experienced transfers. Parker's new Bears give him some weapons he hasn't had available since he started his tenure at Potsdam.
 
"I'd say the recruiting class is the best one we've had so far," said Parker. "It's definitely the most athletic. We've got some big guys that will change the look of the team.  So that is definitely a weapon that I don't know that we've had in the past."
 
This new class enters a different program than the Class of 2016 did four years ago.
 
"I think the one thing that we have now that we haven't had in the past is the expectation that we're going to continue this tradition of making the playoffs and being one of the toughest teams to beat in the league and region," Parker said. "As well as being regionally ranked every year and beating the top teams on our schedule."
 
Parker's new recruits appear more imposing, but he needs them to have the same internal qualities that gave his previous teams success.
 
"It's great to have all these new guys with possibly more talent and ability than last year, but I would never want to lose the drive and the character of the teams we've had the last four or five years," said Parker. "That's what has made coaching this program enjoyable. Those guys worked hard for everything they got."
 
The "new" team has new facilities to work with this season. After playing most of its home games at Canton last season due to construction, the Bears are back in Potsdam on brand new turf this year.
 
"To be back home and have the guys walk out of the locker room is something we missed last season," Parker said. "It's a beautiful turf field. I want to thank the administration for their hard work in getting this done. The new scoreboard and team shelters are going to give us one of the best facilities in the region. For recruiting, it's just a great thing to present to guys."
 
FORWARD
Senior Brandon Laurin leads a solid group of four returning forwards. He scored two goals and added an assist, while starting five of the 18 games he played in last season. Junior Ritchie Hetherington (        Falkirk, Scotland/Herkimer County C.C.) contributed a goal and an assist in 15 games last year, but Parker expects bigger things from him this season.
 
"Ritchie has really come on," Parker said. "He was never fully fit last year to impact us.  He looks much better and more prepared."
 
Senior Justin Kellett (Chazy Lake, N.Y./North Country C.C.) is also back after scoring two goals and adding an assist in 14 games. He delivered the decisive tally to lift the Bears to a critical double-overtime victory against Buffalo State last October. Parker describes Kellett as "very athletic, physical and a pain to handle." Sophomore Sheku Conteh (Bronx, N.Y./Crotona International), who saw action in eight games in 2015 will use his 6-1 frame to hold opponents off the ball.
 
Irish freshman Brandon Igiehon (Dublin, Ireland/Channel View) makes his way across the Atlantic via New York City to headline the Bears new forwards. At 6-4 and very athletic, Parker hopes Igiehon will have an immediate impact. Speedy fellow freshmen Milli Negash (Syracuse, N.Y./Henninger) and Cole Crotty (Queensbury, N.Y./Queensbury), who has been solid in preseason, also join Potsdam's forwards this season.


MIDFIELD
"We are very deep in the midfield,"said Parker. "We're just trying to get through how we're going to get them on the field when we want."
 
The Bears have 12 midfielders on the roster, consisting of eight veterans and four newcomers.
 
"We expect Chris Schrum (Manhattan, N.Y./Millennium) to be the anchor of the midfield," Parker said. "He's probably our best player. Senior Patrick Mylod is back. He's just so experienced now playing a lot of minutes throughout his career.  So I've got some trust in him.  Sophomore Jorge Ferrer (Syracuse, N.Y./Henninger) scored some big goals in the SUNYAC games against Buff State and Fredonia last year. He's very athletic and hungry around the goal. Sophomore Danny Anglim (Bayport, N.Y./Bayport-Blue Point) really came on towards the end of last season. He started to see minutes. Sophomore Matt Saddlemire (Gansevoort, N.Y./Schuylerville) has improved and is getting adjusted to the speed of play. Sophomore Tyler Mullery (Holtsville, N.Y./Sachem East) is going to play more in the midfield than he has in the past. Last year he played more in back for us. Sophomore Isaac Sanabria (Bedford, N.Y./Fox Lane) has been very good. He's come in fitter than he was last year and has matured a bit. Junior Chris Mayrose (Akron, N.Y. /Akron) is back from his knee injury. He's worked very hard to get back to this point and we have some trust in him."
 
The most experienced of the new midfielders is sophomore Bokkar Ka (Brooklyn, N.Y./Dodge City C.C.) who transferred from Dodge City Community College in Kansas. In 10 games with the Conquistadors last season, Ka scored two goals and made two starts. Three freshmen join him, all of whom have impressed Parker in preseason. Lisbon native Adam Kelley (Lisbon, N.Y./Lisbon) will battle for playing time with Ted Bruschini (Wilton, N.Y./South Glens Falls) from Wilton and Jeff Schulz (East Moriches, N.Y./Westhampton Beach) from East Moriches.
 
DEFENSE
Parker has very high expectations for his defense this season.
 
"We do return a good core of guys defensively so I think that will be the strong point of the team this year," said Parker. "In the past we've been able to get some timely goals and sometimes survive defensively. We been organized, but this year I think the focus is shutouts, to keep clean sheets and really defend first."
 
Junior All-SUNYAC Matthew Wagner (Bronxville, N.Y./Bronxville), who scored the game-winner at SLU last year, is back to provide shutdown defense as one of the center backs. Junior Spencer Johnston (Valatie, N.Y./Hudson Valley C.C.) was impressive in nine games last season before being lost for the rest of the year to a knee injury. Johnston has returned fully healthy. Sophomore John Becker (Port Jefferson Station, N.Y./Comsewogue) came on strong at left back last October, earning the starting nod in the final 11 games of the season. Sophomore Connor DeSantis (Rotterdam, N.Y./Mohonasen) and senior Nazif Agoro (Bronx, N.Y./Ellis Prep) is also back for the Bears.
 
Junior DJ Guy (New York, N.Y./Saint John's Prep) is one of four new defenders. Guy transferred from Keystone College in Pennsylvania where he started all 34 games in two seasons with the Giants and tallied a goal and an assist. Freshman Rob Dulanto (Queens, N.Y./Francis Lewis) who played for Albertson Academy has impressed Parker so far and is pushing for a starting job. Freshman Josh Eisler (Commack, N.Y./Commack) brings his top notch club experience from Long Island into the mix as well. Freshman Wilber Parada (Huntington Station, N.Y./Huntington) rounds out the newcomers in the backfield.
 
GOAL
Senior Nick Davies (Webster, N.Y./Webster Thomas) returns to start in goal for Potsdam in 2016. In three seasons with the Bears, Davies is the program's all-time leader in victories with a 16-12-2 mark. He has also compiled a 1.31 goals-against-average and a .762 save percentage to go with five shutouts.
 
"I think this is Nick's season to really leave his stamp on the program and graduate as the most successful goalkeeper in program history by a long shot," says Parker. 
 
Junior Keagen Briggs (Peru, N.Y./Seton Catholic) is also back. Freshman Jake Mitchell (Brockport, N.Y./Brockport) and junior Jefferson Community College transfer Jake LaClair (Philadelphia, N.Y./Jefferson C.C.) give Potsdam even more security between the sticks. Mitchell has been sharp in preseason and LaClair started 31 games and totaled 272 saves in two years with the Cannoneers.
 
SCHEDULE
The Bears play eight challenging nonconference contests this fall, including matches against local rivals Canton and Clarkson. Potsdam opens against Medaille and Salve Regina at the Cardinal Classic in Plattsburgh on Sept. 2-3. The Bears open at home against the Kangaroos on Sept. 6 before hosting Mount Saint Mary, King's and RIT in the Potsdam College Cup on Sept. 10-11. They then head to Geneva for a Sept. 14 matchup with Hobart before returning home to host 2015 NCAA Tourney qualifier RPI on Sept. 17. Potsdam then opens its always difficult nine-game SUNYAC slate against Plattsburgh on Sept. 24 before heading to Cortland and Oswego on Sept. 30 and Oct. 1.
 
The Bears kick off 2016 against the Medaille College Mavericks in Plattsburgh at 1:30 p.m. this Friday.