SEASIDE, Calif. — Even though he begins just his second season at the helm of the Cal State Monterey Bay men's soccer program, Head Coach Shane Carew will lead a remarkably different team from the one that finished 2017 onto the Otter Sports Complex Field for the 2018 regular season opener Saturday against Academy of Art.

Fans coming to the match would be well advised to pick up a program on their way in. Gone are 24 of the 33 players from 2017. A full 20 of the 29 players on the opening–day roster will be making their Otter debuts.

While the new–look roster certainly brings a level of uncertainty, it also brings with it potential, possibilities and a renewed sense of optimism. If preseason results are any indication—CSUMB went undefeated in three friendlies, including a 2–0 win against a San Jose State squad that tied defending national champion Stanford in its opener—the optimism has a solid foundation.

As CSUMB puts the finishing touches on preparations for the opener, OtterAthletics.com sat down with Coach Carew to talk about the 2018 Otter outlook.
 

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OTTERATHLETICS.COM: GOING INTO YEAR TWO, HOW MUCH DIFFERENT IS THE FEELING FOR YOU WITH THAT FIRST SEASON UNDER YOUR BELT?
Coach Carew: Going into year two, I would like to believe I have a good feel for the conference in terms of the competitive nature of the teams. Our goal year one was to be competitive in every game and going into year two, we would now like to kick on in terms of results.

MORE THAN TWO–THIRDS OF THE ROSTER IS NEW FOR 2018. HOW HAS THE BLENDING PROCESS GONE THROUGH THE PRESEASON?
We have added a lot of new players which is very exciting for the future of the program. The returning players are a great group of young men on and off the field and have been very receptive to the amount of new players, making them feel welcome to the Otter Family. We spent time together away from the traditional training environment with the goal to quickly blend the players together.

ALTHOUGH THERE ARE A LOT OF NEW FACES, MANY OF THE NEW OTTERS HAVE EXPERIENCE PLAYING CLUB SOCCER. HAS THAT HELPED SHAPED THE TEAM IN THE PRESEASON?
We pushed many of our players to play summer soccer which adds to their playing experience. Some players now get to play an additional 10–15 games on top of their college season which only leads to their long term development.

WILL THE INFUSION OF NEW TALENT FROM THE MONTEREY BAY AREA MEAN OTTER FANS CAN EXPECT A DIFFERENT STYLE OF SOCCER FROM THEIR TEAM IN 2018?
We have a lot of local players now on our roster so we are hoping the local community can come out and support their local role models for the rest of the soccer community. In terms of style, we hope that hometown passion shines through.

WITH THREE MATCHES IN EIGHT DAYS TO OPEN THE REGULAR SEASON—OTHER THAN A FEW RESULTS—WHAT ARE YOU HOPING TO SEE FROM YOUR TEAM IN THE OPENING WEEK?
We have just finished our preseason block to the season. We now enter a block with three games in a short period of time that replicates the season. The goal is to prepare the squad for the CCAA games through these matches.