Men's Soccer 3/16/2015 2:21:00 PM

SPRING SOCCER SLATE ANNOUNCED, JAMIE SUMMERS & JO VETLE RIMSTAD CHOSEN TO LEAD

RADFORD, Va. ---- Coach Marc Reeves has announced the 2015 spring men's soccer slate and the Highlanders' new captains. Jamie Summers and Jo Vetle Rimstad will lead Radford, starting on March 21 at Wake Forest.

"We have put together a spring schedule that will provide our players with great opportunities to show they can perform against strong opponents," said Reeves. "We value these contests as a great chance to compete, to improve as a team and to learn a great deal."

The 2014 Big South regular season champs open the spring against the Demon Deacons in Winston-Salem, N.C., on Saturday, March 21, at 6 p.m. A week later, the Highlanders make the trip to Harrisonburg, Va., to take on James Madison at 6 p.m. on March 28.

Radford's lone home match this spring is on Thursday, April 2, against Roanoke at 7 p.m. The spring continues on Saturday, April 11, at the University of Charleston in West Virginia and on Saturday, April 18, at East Tennessee State in Johnson City, Tenn. Both contests kick off at 6 p.m.

Three of the five matches in the spring will be against NCAA Tournament teams. Wake Forest fell in the opening round to UMBC in penalty kicks, while James Madison fell to North Carolina in the first round 6-0. Charleston (W.Va.) notched 21 victories a year ago and fell in the championship game of the NCAA DII tournament to Lynn, 3-2. The Highlanders and Golden Eagles played in Radford last year during the preseason.

Summers and Rimstad were named the team's captains after appearing in a combined 35 matches in 2014. Summers played in 15, starting 11, and scored two goals and helped on two others. Rimstad started all 20 contests a year ago, logging more than 1,700 minutes. He was named the Big South's Defensive Player of the Week on two occasions on his way to being named to the conference's first team.

"We expect all our upper classman to play a major role in the leadership of our team, these two players were voted by their teammates to be captains," Reeves said. "Jo and Jamie have both demonstrated they can lead by example both on and off the field on a daily basis. They have both been major pieces in the growth of our program and last year's regular season championship team. We will look to them to set high standards and find ways to motivate and unite our group, during our spring fixtures and beyond."

The Highlanders were picked to finish sixth in the Big South last year, but ended up posting a 12-5-3 record and capturing their fifth Big South regular season title and first since 1998 with an 8-1-0 record.

:: 2014 Highlights ::
• Three Highlanders earned first-team All-Big South honors (Jo Vetle Rimstad, Aitor Pouseu Blanco, and Krzysztof Nalborski)
• Four more earned second-team accolades (Hudgens, Chel Ho Park Kim, Dario Redondo, and Fraser Colmer)
• Felix Steinhauser, Pouseu Blanco and Colmer were named to the Big South All-Freshman team
• Steinhauser, Pouseu Blanco, and Rimstad earned all-tournament honors from the conference
• Bismark Amofah was named to the Capital One Academic All-America All-District team with Hudgens.
• As a team, the Highlanders earned the NSCAA scholar award for team academic performance for the eighth straight season.
• Reeves became the third coach in program history to be named the league's coach of the year
• Hudgens was named a first team Capital One Academic All-America selection, becoming only the second Highlander to earn the most prestigious academic honor a student-athlete can earn in a single season
• Radford men's soccer program was No. 22 in the TopDrawerSoccer.com national poll and No. 20 in the Soccer America poll

For the latest news on the Radford men's soccer team, follow the Highlanders on Twitter at @RadfordMSOC. To keep up with all Radford athletics, follow @RU_Athletics on Twitter.

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Players Mentioned

#6 Bismark Amofah: D; 5' 9"; Sophomore

#8 Chel Ho Park Kim: MF; 5' 11"; Redshirt Senior

#1 Aitor Pouseu Blanco: GK; 6' 2"; Redshirt Freshman

#10 Dario Redondo: MF/F; 5' 7"; Senior

#5 Jamie Summers: D; 5' 11"; Junior

#4 Jo Vetle Rimstad: D; 6' 1"; Sophomore

#33 Fraser Colmer: MF; 6' 0"; Freshman; Brookfield Community

#14 Krzysztof Nalborski: MF; 5' 10"; Graduate Student

#32 Felix Steinhauser: D; 5' 9"; Redshirt Freshman

Players Mentioned

#6 Bismark Amofah
: 5' 9"; Sophomore
: D

#8 Chel Ho Park Kim
: 5' 11"; Redshirt Senior
: MF

#1 Aitor Pouseu Blanco
: 6' 2"; Redshirt Freshman
: GK

#10 Dario Redondo
: 5' 7"; Senior
: MF/F

#5 Jamie Summers
: 5' 11"; Junior
: D

#4 Jo Vetle Rimstad
: 6' 1"; Sophomore
: D

#33 Fraser Colmer
: 6' 0"; Freshman; Brookfield Community
: MF

#14 Krzysztof Nalborski
: 5' 10"; Graduate Student
: MF

#32 Felix Steinhauser
: 5' 9"; Redshirt Freshman
: D

Radford University Athletics

Players Mentioned

Players Mentioned