MSU soccer team meets Salem today

By Dan Stillwell
Register-Herald Sports Writer

Mountain State University’s first-ever men’s soccer team makes its home debut in a scrimmage today with Salem International University.

The Cougars host the Tigers at 4 p.m. at the YMCA Sports Complex.

“We’re going to get our feet wet,” coach John Birkelbach said. “Hopefully we can impress Salem and give them a good game. Actually, I hope we surprise them.”

Birkelbach has built the MSU squad from scratch since taking the position last March. He guided Bluefield College (Va.) to the United States Collegiate Athletic Association national title last season.

“We have a lot of talent and hopefully we’ll show it,” he said.

Central midfielder Ali Katrib should be a force offensively for the Cougars.

“He’s a phenomenal player,” Birkelbach said. “We’ll run everything through him.”

Other standouts include midfielders Waris Mojaddidi (from Fairfax Station, Va.) and Moussa Sidibe (Mali, Africa), goalkeeper Adam Thompson (Pataskla, Ohio), forward Anthony Collins (Callao, Va.) and defenders John Gdula (Hurricane) and Isaac Achaempong (Ghana).

“Just with those core players we have a good team,” Birkelbach said.

Salem is the defending West Virginia Conference champion, having defeated Wheeling Jesuit 2-1 in overtime in the championship match.

Sophomore midfielder Milos Mijuskiovic scored in the 95th minute for the Tigers, who finished with a 9-8-2 record. They won the tournament matches after losing their last five regular-season contests.

The Tigers lost just one player to graduation. The championship was Salem’s first in soccer.

The scrimmage will feature three 30-minute periods and will be informal.

“We’ll have referees, but there probably won’t be a scoreboard,” Birkelbach said. “It will be relaxed and a lot of fun.

“We’ll shift our lineups around and see players at different positions.

“The sooner I can sort out the positions and formations, the sooner we’ll be winning games.”

Mountain State opens its season on the road Tuesday against the Wheeling Jesuit reserves. The first home match will be against Bluefield College Sept. 18 at the YMCA Sports Complex.