Hurricane Isaac alters Olivet College men’s soccer schedule

OLIVET, Mich. – Due to the expected amount of rain to fall in Indiana from Hurricane Isaac, the schedule for the Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology (RHIT) Tournament has been altered. Saturday's scheduled games will NOW be played Friday evening, with Olivet kicking-off at 6 p.m. against Franklin (Ind.) College. Sunday's games will still be played but are going to be held on Franklin's artificial turf field, with Olivet playing RHIT at 1 p.m. NOTE: Franklin is about 90 minutes east of RHIT.

The men's soccer program welcomes back 24 letterwinners from the 2011 team, which broke the school record with a 14-7-1 record. Leading the Comets up top will be sophomore Esteban Russell. He led the team in his first season with 18 points (five goals and team-leading eight assists).

In the middle of the field, junior captain Fred Smyser along with senior Matt Garza and junior Adam Wright are back. Smyser started every game last year, finishing with six goals and three assists for 15 points. Four of his goals were game-winners. Wright had four goals (three game-winners) and five assists for 13 points, while Garza's only goal was a game-winner.

Senior captain Cole Dehen anchors the back line. Junior Zach Piotrowski and sophomore John Leutzinger are also expected to play on defense. Sophomores Alex Lang and Matt Van Houten are returning goalkeepers. Lang stared 19 games last year, recording a 1.04 goals against average and eight shutouts. Van Houten played 254 minutes in goal and gave up only four goals.

After this weekend's games, Olivet will travel to play Spring Arbor University next Wednesday at 7 p.m., and then host Case Western Reserve (Ohio) University in its home-opener Sept. 8 at 3 p.m.