Men's Soccer | August 30, 2017

SEASIDE, Calif. — Former San Jose State assistant Shane Carew has a lot of reasons to be confident in his first year as head men's soccer coach for Cal State Monterey Bay.

The Otters are trying to bounce back from a 5–9–2 season in 2016. The season started with great promise until a six–game losing streak right in the middle of the year scuttled their chances at the playoffs.

While having a new coach is often a learning process, Carew arrives with a lot of knowledge about the depth of soccer in the Monterey Bay area.

"I knew a lot about the program," said Carew. "I knew a lot of the Monterey Salinas and Watsonville demographic through recruiting and the club circuit. We had a good relationship from my time at San Jose State and we played them in Spring before I got here."

Senior Andrew Garcia (Pleasant Grove HS) returns as goalkeeper. A transfer from San Jose State, he started the first six games in 2016 and got two shutouts in league play before an injury ended his year.
"He has a lot of ability but has also had misfortune with some injuries," Carew said. "He needs a clean run of games. If he's healthy he could be one of the top goalkeepers in the CCAA."

The Otters' top returning scorer is Michael Maul (San Ramon Valley HS), another player Carew is familiar with. Last year, Maul started eleven games as a sophomore and scored three goals.

"I've known Mikey since his days playing club. He has a good chance to be in the starting eleven. We're excited to have a lot of competition for places."

Outside of Maul, there is little returning experience for the 2017 campaign. Carew doesn't see that as a detriment however. In fact, the new coach is excited at the team's depth and notes their enthusiasm pushes practices. Carew feels that work ethic will translate to great things this season.

"If we work hard as we can and compete as hard as we can at the very minimum we should be competitive in the conference," he said. "We recruit character. We have a great group of guys who buy into how we want to do things and buy into the 'Monterey Way'."

The "Monterey Way" already has yielded positive results during their preseason matches. CSUMB earned a 1–1 draw at NCAA Division I foe San Jose State and a 2–1 win over NCAA Division II West Region rival Holy Names University.

The matches begin in earnest Aug. 31 when the Otters travel up Highway 101 to meet Notre Dame de Namur in their 2017 regular season opener. The Otters will play their first home game Sept. 2 against Fresno Pacific University.