Penn State Altoona men's soccer hopes to return to the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference postseason tournament for the second year in a row, as the Lions prepare to kick off their 2023 season.

The team was picked to finish fifth in the AMCC preseason coaches' poll, after the Lions also took fifth place in last fall's regular-season standings. The 2022 edition of Penn State Altoona men's soccer went 4-10-1 overall, including 2-4-1 in the AMCC. The team earned a berth to compete in the AMCC tournament.

"Last year was always going to be a difficult season coming in to the job right before the start of preseason, but we have a lot of guys returning from last year's group that qualified for playoffs, and the expectation is that we can improve and try to move up the ranks in the conference this fall," said Penn State Altoona head coach Andrew Beverly, who enters his second year with the program. "We have a strong group of guys that have taken up leadership roles within the team and are starting to build an identity for our program, and although this is such a strong conference, we're hoping to push the top teams and compete with everyone we'll see."

Leading Penn State Altoona's returning players are sophomore forward/midfielder Luke Hall (State College, PA/State College), junior defender Owen Myers (Spring Grove, PA/Spring Grove), and sophomore midfielder/defender Henry Couchara (Plymouth Meeting, PA/Plymouth Whitemarsh). Hall and Myers were each named as "Players to Watch" in the AMCC preseason poll, while Couchara is coming off a season in which he was voted to the third team of the All-AMCC squad.

Hall scored a team-high five goals for the Lions last season as a freshman while playing in 14 games, including 12 starts. He recorded 27 shot attempts with 19 coming as shots on goal. Myers started 14 games in his sophomore campaign last fall, scoring one goal, attempting 11 shots, and putting eight shots on goal. Couchara played in 11 games and made nine starts last season, scoring two goals.

Other junior-class returners for the Lions include defenders Jonathan Hill (Spring Grove, PA/Spring Grove) and Bailey Musselman (Altoona, PA/Altoona), forwards Seth Conaway (Fallentimber, PA/Glendale) and Chad Reighard (Altoona, PA/Altoona), and midfielder Awad Eltayeb (Khartoum, Sudan).

Additional sophomores returning from last season are forwards Ethan Firth (York, PA/Central York) and Daniel Persiko (Bellefonte, PA/Bellefonte), midfielders Connor McBride (Philadelphia, PA/Plymouth Whitemarsh) and AJ Packer (Bellefonte, PA/Bellefonte), and defender/midfielder Adam McGlynn (Ebensburg, PA/Central Cambria).

"Owen and Bailey will be a couple of our leaders in the back. They both bring a lot of experience, a strong aerial presence, and leadership to our defense," Beverly explained. "Luke and Chad will be strong players for us in the attack. Luke's work rate and finishing will be relied on up top, and Chad's creativity, both on the dribble and with his passing, will be important for us on offense."

The team also welcomes 10 players entering their first seasons with the program. Three are goalkeepers: junior Sasha Mohoruk (State College, PA/State College) and freshmen Cullen McAllister (DuBois, PA/DuBois) and Eli Slamka (Muncy, PA/Muncy).

"We've got three new goalies for this fall, and all have had great preseasons," said Beverly. "Sasha has set himself up to be our starter, coming in as a transfer and instantly staking his claim to the No. 1 spot in goal. He'll bring a commanding presence back there to help lead our defense. But both Cullen and Eli will continue to push him, and both are working to stay ready should they be needed at any point this season."

The other seven are forwards Luca Galieti (Broomall, PA/Cardinal O'Hara), Tamilola Longe (Lagos, Nigeria/Stevenson School), and Vincent Reyes (Valhalla, NY/Valhalla), midfielders Alieu Baba Jarjusey (Cotonou, Benin/English International School) and Ethan McDowell (Johnstown, PA/Johnstown Christian), defender Jeff Stritzl (Perkasie, PA/Pennridge), and defender/forward Frank Kasperowicz (Waldwick, NJ/Waldwick).

On offense, Beverly hopes that his team will make the most of its opportunities to put goals on the board.

"With how tough the AMCC is, goals could easily be hard to come by, but Luke has put in a lot of work in the offseason and is looking to lead the line for us again," he said. "Chad, Dan, Vincent, and Connor are also expected to be key contributors in creating chances for themselves and the team."

The Lions' most experienced position is on their back line, while the midfield will see some change in front of the defense this fall.

"Our hope is that the defenders' experience will be a great asset for us this fall. We will still almost always be the youngest team in just about every game, but we have a lot of guys from last year returning, especially in the back, that should be able to keep us organized and tough to break down," Beverly said. "We've got a bit of a restructuring in our midfield based on last year's group, but we're excited at the prospects who have taken the initiative. It's such a vital area of the field that we're expecting several players to all play a role in there, and it's this competition and depth that has us excited at the possibilities."

Penn State Altoona men's soccer opens its schedule at home on Saturday, September 2 at 1:30 p.m. against Westminster College.