IU-Columbus men’s soccer coach Kevin Nolan, center, talks during a press conference Wednesday at the school. At left is Nathan Davis, a freshman from Jennings County, and at right is assistant coach Kevin Jones.
Ted Schultz | The Republic
Kevin Nolan got a late start to the IU-Columbus men’s soccer party, but he’s hit the ground running.
Since taking over the first-year program five weeks ago, Nolan has added nine of his own players to the cast that already was on the roster.
“It’s been very exciting,” Nolan said. “It’s been a lot in a short amount of time by evaluating guys you didn’t recruit and then trying to find a starting lineup for preseason and the beginning of the season. Then, trying to bring in some of your own guys and keeping the guys that are here, it’s been crazy.”
The Crimson Pride has had only two weeks of practice to prepare for Tuesday’s 7 p.m. opener against Boyce at Wigh Soccer Complex. IU-Columbus was scheduled to open the season today at Franklin, but that game has been canceled.
“We’re just trying to get as much done as we can in a short amount of time,” Nolan said. “The guys have been good so far. They’ve been working really hard, really buying in to what I’m trying to do here. Culture has been our No. 1 thing, making sure everybody is on time and doing the right thing, sitting in front of the class. We have strict team rules that I have with these guys because we have to be disciplined. When you’re disciplined, and you do all the little things and they add up, I think those equal wins. So as long as we’re doing the little things right, I think we’re going to have a pretty good shot of competing this year.”
Nolan grew up in New Jersey and moved to Greenville, South Carolina when he was 14. He played collegiately at Gardner-Webb, and after playing professionally in Brazil and England, at age 24, he became the youngest head coach in country at Spartanburg Methodist College. He then went to Iowa Lakes Community College, which he led to the national semifinals before becoming an assistant at Radford, a Division I school in Virginia.
“Columbus is a soccer community, and it’s a very good community to a be a part of to build a college soccer program,” Nolan said. “So we’re very fortunate for that. They’ve been very supportive of us from the club and the high schools and everybody else. I couldn’t have picked a better spot to start a team.”
The team features a seven local products — Columbus East graduates Jacob Hofelich, Zach Roberts, Alejandro Saldivar and Rick Sanchez; Columbus North alums Alejandro “Pollo” Alvarez and Fabio Navarro and Jennings County graduate Nathan Davis.
“It’s really nice,” Davis said. “I’ve been playing in Columbus since I was 8 for Columbus Express, so it’s really nice to see see something I dreamed of as a kid come to fruition.”
Looking to lead the offensive attack at attacking center mid is Angel Roque, a junior from Fishers who played the past two years at Ancilla College of Marian University.
“He’s probably our most dangerous player going forward, very good on the ball, has a ton of experience, so we’re expecting a lot of big things from him,” Nolan said. “We’re probably going to run the offense through him.”
Navarro, Saldivar and Alvarez will see action at forward. Kevin Cruz (junior, Goshen), Al Hernandez (freshman, Shelbyville) and Drew Hassebroek (freshman, Shelbyville) will play in the midfield.
Davis and Sanchez will be on defense, along with Carter Hendrix (sophomore, Seymour) and Aywan Ishaq (freshman, Fishers). Jacob Kasadra (freshman, Crown Point) will start in goal, with Zach Mills (freshman, Center Grove) and Roberts providing depth.
“We’re a very young team,” Nolan said. “That’s why I was trying to hit the junior college route as hard as I could to get some older, seasoned guys to help the young guys grow up and see what it’s like to be in college soccer. I feel like a lot of these guys on the team, they don’t know what they signed up for until them met me, an then they realized it’s a very serious thing. But they’ve been very well receptive of all the information I’ve given them.
“They’re a good group of guys,” he added. “I told them after the first meeting we had, ‘Hey, I know I didn’t recruit you, but I’m not one of those guys that’s going to just cut everybody. You come in and you do what I tell you to do and you buy into the program, I don’t care what your skill level is, I’ll keep you around on the team.’ I know a lot of coaches come in and just ax everybody, but I don’t want to do that here. These guys took a chance to come and start a program, and I want to help them honor it and be a part of that original founding team to get the program off the ground.”
Kevin Jones, who has been a faculty member at IUPUC, will serve as Nolan’s assistant coach.
“I said, ‘I can be out there about three days a week. I can’t travel, but I’ll try to help,’” Jones said. “After watching these men work, after watching this guy coach, ‘Hey, I’m going to as many practices as I can get to. I’m going to travel with the team because something good is going on here, and it’s not just soccer. It’s building of character.’”
The 2023 IUPUC men’s soccer schedule:
Tuesday;Boyce;7 p.m.
Saturday;at Pikeville (Ky.);4 p.m.
Sept. 8;at Indiana-Northwest;5:30 p.m.
Sept. 12;at Boyce;7 p.m.
Sept. 14;Cincinnati-Clermont;7 p.m.
Sept. 17;Fisk (Tenn.);7 p.m.
Sept. 21;at Ohio Christian;3:30 p.m.
Sept. 23;at West Virginia Tech;7 p.m.
Sept. 28;Oakland City;7 p.m.
Sept. 30;Shawnee State;4:30 p.m.
Oct. 5;Brescia;7 p.m.
Oct. 7;Midway;7 p.m.
Oct. 14;at Rio Grande;6 p.m.
Oct. 19;Saint-Mary-of-the-Woods;7 p.m.
Oct. 21;at IU-East;4:30 p.m.
Oct. 28;at Point Park;4 p.m.
