The last two seasons of Massachusetts Maritime men’s soccer have been among the most successful and memorable in the program’s long and glorious history, as the Buccaneers have earned back-to-back berths in the Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference semifinals and posted their highest league regular season finish in a decade last fall with seven overall triumphs, including four in conference play.  And with 15 letterwinners and eight starters back in the fold this season, veteran Head Coach Greg Perry is looking to keep that momentum going during the 2015 campaign.

Leadership has certainly helped define the program over the years, and Perry will turn to a pair of seniors in Ryan Culp (Centreville, Md./Kent Island) and Taylor Sjoberg (Mansfield, Mass./Mansfield) to provide that example as Massachusetts Maritime’s co-captains this fall.  The dean of MASCAC coaches as he enters his 23^rd season at the helm, Perry says that “our seniors have always set the bar high in terms of attaining excellence on and off the field, and Ryan and Taylor are no exception to that.  They have demonstrated effective leadership and provided an example that all of their teammates should follow, and I know they will carry on the tradition that our previous captains have established.”

Here’s a look at how things are shaping up for the 2015 edition of Buccaneer Men’s Soccer:

FORWARD.  Senior Nick Parker (Plymouth, Mass./Plymouth South) paced Perry’s attack up front in 2014 with six goals and an assist for 13 points, while fellow senior Connor McInnis (Duxbury, Mass./Thayer Academy) also packs a scoring punch after collecting three goals and three assists for nine points.  Junior Thomas McCarthy (Tybee Island, Ga./Benedictine Academy) returns to the lineup after tallying three times and adding a helper for seven points, while sophomore Alex Thompson (Mansfield, Mass./Mansfield) chipped in with a goal and an assist in 17 appearances off the bench for Massachusetts Maritime.  Freshmen Brendan Guilderson (Kingston, Mass./Silver Lake), Joe Perry (Plymouth, Mass./Plymouth South) and William Taylor (Hanover, Mass./Hanover) will also look to contribute during their rookie seasons this fall.

MIDFIELD.  Sophomore Chris Beaulieu (Carver, Mass./Thayer Academy) leads a solid group in the middle for the Buccaneers, as he scored three goals and added a pair of assists for eight points during his inaugural collegiate campaign.  Culp and sophomore Kevin O’Leary (Norton, Mass./Norton) each added a helper while combining for 32 match appearances for Perry’s crew, while sophomores Ryan Hardy (Pepperell, Mass./Groton-Dunstable) and Alan Provost (Monson, Mass./Monson) lend additional experience after combining for 17 matches played in 2014.  Freshmen Brendan Gawron (Braintree, Mass./Braintree) and Joshua Souza (Somerset, Mass./Somerset-Berkley) will also be vying for roles in the midfield as newcomers this season.

BACK.  A stingy Buccaneer backfield that allowed less than a goal per contest is led by a pair of all-MASCAC performers in junior Matthew McDonough (Framingham, Mass./Framingham) and sophomore Michael Rouette (Three Rivers, Mass./Monson), as each started in all 17 matches last fall.  Rouette chipped in with a pair of goals and three assists for seven points on offense, while McDonough added a helper for Massachusetts Maritime, which also welcomes back Sjoberg and junior Scott Matoian (Mashpee, Mass./Mashpee) as part of an experienced group of defenders.  Perry also welcomes in a quartet of newcomers in sophomore Eoin Grimes (Attleboro, Mass./Attleboro) and freshmen Zach O’Neil (Scituate, Mass./Scituate), Nicholas Van Ness (Waldwick, N.J./Waldwick) and Westen Dennett (Kingston, Mass./Silver Lake) who look to impact on the defensive side.

GOAL.  Junior Joe Cohen (Plymouth, Mass./Plymouth) returns as a most solid last line of defense after earning all-MASCAC accolades during his sophomore campaign a year ago, as he recorded seven wins and seven shutouts while posting an 0.77 goals against average along the way.  In 16 starts, Cohen made 97 saves in over 1,500 minutes of action, allowing just 13 tallies for an .882 saves percentage.  Sophomore Mike Pruchnik (Rochester, Mass./Old Rochester) made six saves in one start for the Buccaneers in 2014, while freshmen Connor Murphy (Mashpee, Mass./Mashpee) and Trevor Ross (Fort Lee, Va./The Woodlands) will also be vying for time in the Massachusetts Maritime cage.

SCHEDULE.  Perry has always looked to play the best that the region has to offer, and the 2015 season is no exception to that, as the Buccaneers will tangle with non-league foes WPI, Becker, Wentworth, Nichols, Anna Maria, Salve Regina, UMass Dartmouth, Brandeis, Coast Guard and UMass Boston in addition to their seven MASCAC clashes.  Massachusetts Maritime will host Worcester State, Salem State, Framingham State and Westfield State in league play while traveling to Bridgewater State, Fitchburg State and MCLA.

Hopes are high that the Massachusetts Maritime men’s soccer program can go from second to second to none during the 2015 campaign, as the Buccaneers begin their quest for the crown on Tuesday, September 1^st by hosting WPI in a non-league encounter at Clean Harbors Stadium at 7:00 p.m. EDT.