Ohio Dominican look to build off last year's success

River Allbaugh is introduced to the crowd before the match against Ohio State University

The Ohio Dominican Men's Soccer team looks to build off of last year's success. After finishing the season 5-5-2 (5-3-2 Conf.), the Panthers were able to sneak past Lake Erie in the Great Midwest Athletic Conference (GMAC) knockout round by a score of 2-0, with senior captain River Allbaugh notching a brace.

The Panthers made it to the Semi-Finals where they faced an undefeated Ohio Valley squad. Suffering four red cards -- two to the bench -- Ohio Dominican could not outscore the Fighting Scots as they fell 5-2.

This year, the Black & Gold are returning a good core of their squad from last year, adding new incoming freshmen and transfers. "I think, the bond that we have; we're a family," said fifth-year senior Allbaugh. "Every single year we have new guys coming in and within the first week of pre-season, they're a part of the family, they're a part of the brotherhood," Allbaugh continued."

Earlier in the week, the ODU placed 6th in the preseason coaches poll, below teams such as Tiffin University, Cedarville, Lake Erie College, newcomers Ashland University, and University of Findlay.

"I think a lot of people are overlooking us. We ended the year strong last year, so I think a lot of teams that we played at the beginning of the year are doubting us," exclaimed Allbaugh. "They're not giving us the ranking we deserve. We know what we can do and the teams we can beat. That ranking gives us more motivation."

Allbaugh returns as the Panther's leading goalscorer last year, scoring six goals, and looks to add more to complete his tenure on Sunbury Road.

The Black & Gold face off against Capital to end the preseason, before facing off against the fourth-ranked team in the nation in Division II, Indianapolis at Panther Stadium.