Hillsborough County Soccer Team St. Petersburg Kickers Led by Ben Slingerland Advance to Regionals with Near Perfect Record
Ben Slingerland and the St. Petersburg Kickers advance to Regionals with a near perfect regular season record. The regionals format includes 2 groups of 4 teams each with the group winners playing in the finals on Sunday, June 7th.
Hillsborough , United States – May 27, 2015 /MarketersMedia/ —
The St. Petersburg Kickers are an amateur soccer team from the Greater St. Petersburg / Tampa area. Founded in 1958 by Kurt Herbach, the team has won national titles and has maintained a stranglehold on the Sun Coast Soccer League in the state of Florida for the last 50 or so years. Made up of many ex collegiate and professional players from Pinellas and Hillsborough County, the Kickers play a high quality of soccer.
Led by coaches Chris McMaster and Steve Gogas, the Kickers are managed by Panos Iakovidis. The team maintained a near perfect 11-0-1 record this season in the Sun Coast League, scoring 50 goals and only conceding 11. The team is now preparing for Regionals, which will take place in Dallas, TX from June 5-7. McMaster is optimistic about the team’s chances, “Every year we put together our best possible for regionals, as we know that is where the competition really picks up. This year is no different as we have some very talented players that will be representing the club in Dallas.”
The Kickers are led by their defense. Veteran Captain Andy Restrepo anchors the backline. Restrepo played at the University of South Florida and then went on to have a long professional career, playing in the MLS for the Metrostars as well as the Rochester Rhinos and Atlanta Silverbacks. Next to Restrepo at Center Back will be former Georgetown Captain Ben Slingerland. Slingerland spent time with DC United and the Tampa Bay Rowdies before joining the Kickers (http://berkleycenter.georgetown.edu/people/benjamin-slingerland).
In the midfield, the Kickers have quite a bit of depth. Tanner Wolfe, the former Stetson and Wilmington Hammerheads stars sits in the middle of the park. Jacob Lawrence, who played is college ball at Bowling Green, sits in a more holding role. The team’s most dynamic player might be Tony D’Oyley, who has blazing speed and will often attack up the flanks for the Kickers. D’Oyley played his college soccer at the University of South Florida. On the opposite side of the midfield, Fort Lauderdale native Matt Clare adds a great soccer IQ. Clare has spent time with the Tampa Bay Rowdies, but has primarily made a name for himself as a professional indoor player, sharing time at the Norfolk Sharx, the Syracuse Silver Knights and the Wichita B-52s.
Up front, the Kickers rely on a few different veteran goal scorers. Chris Hastings, who played his college ball at Wingate University, has proven over the last several years that he can put the ball in the back of the net. Another option up front is the younger Eusebio “Sabs” Montoya, who played his college ball at nearby Saint Leo University.
In net for the Kickers is veteran Eric Sims. Sims runs the Tampa Bay United Soccer Club and surrounds his life with the game of soccer. Sims played his college ball at the University of Tampa and is now the Head Coach at Jesuit High School and the Assistant Coach at the University of Tampa.
The format of Regionals will be 2 separate groups of 4 teams. Each team will play every other team in the group once. The teams with the best record from each group will then play each other in the finals on Sunday, June 7th, with the winning team moving on to represent Region III at the National Cup in Virginia Beach, VA July 16-19. The Kicker’s top competition for regionals will likely be the Legends FC, who knocked the Kicker’s out from Regionals last year.
For more information about us, please visit http://benslingerland.com/
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