2008 Season Preview
Behind Robbins, Defense, Panthers Eye Playoffs
Purchase, NY (Sept. 10, 2008) -- Under the tutelage of third year head coach Paul Brooks, the Panthers are looking to stay ahead of the pack and make a return run to the playoffs this fall.
The 2007 campaign witnessed the Panthers going 6-11-1 overall and 4-4-1 in the Skyline Conference. After playing .500 soccer they then proceeded to lose in the first round of the Skyline Conference Tournament as they played without captain Matt Irish-Jones, who was beset by injuries in the final game of the regular season. The result was a 6-0 loss to Farmingdale State in the quarterfinals.
For the Panthers to avoid another early round exit, they will look foward Geoff Robbins to have the kind of stellar play that earned him the Skyline Conference Player of the week, in the last week of the 2007 season. In addition to Robbins scoring, they will seek the services of Sebastian Ribeiro, who led the team with seven assists last season.
Daniel Grabowski-Clark is a leader on the men’s volleyball team and will hope to have the same presence on the new turf field that debuts this fall. Grabowski-Clark led the Panthers in ’07 with 32 points on 14 goals, including three game winners. New French import Maxim Luiggi should be a spark-plug stopper as he teams up with veteran defender Benjamin O’ Handley to close down the top powers of the conference. Defenseman Andrew Giugno has been named the new captain of the Panthers.
-Oren Vourman
