Vernon Hills's Cohen Earns Spot on 2017 UW-Whitewater Men's Soccer Roster

2017 Aug 30

Jeremy Cohen, a native of Vernon Hills, IL, and graduate of Vernon Hills High School, will compete for the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater men's soccer team during the 2017 season, which begins this Saturday.

Cohen, a senior at UW-Whitewater, is majoring in finance.

With 11 new faces on its 27-man roster, the 2017 University of Wisconsin-Whitewater men's soccer team is young but still expects to make a push for its fourth consecutive NCAA Division III Tournament appearance.

Captains Jack Wirth (Pewaukee, Wis./Pewaukee), Brian Zimdars (Galena, Ohio/Olentangy) and Chris Lucatorto (St. Charles, Ill./St. Charles East) all return to this year's lineup with the hopes of guiding the team to its 14th NCAA berth in program history.

Lucatorto, a senior goalkeeper, became the full-time starter last season after limited playing time during his first two seasons. Lucatorto and the defense limited their opponents to an average of 0.83 goals a game last season, ranking 47th out of 410 teams in the country.

Head Coach Tony Guinn says, "Lucatorto's height is rare at our level. His physical presence and athletic ability are exceptional. I believe he is one of the top three goalkeepers in Division III."

Wirth played in 21 of 22 games last season, starting 13 while teammate Zimdars played 14, starting 8. The pair come in at 6-foot-6 and 6-foot-4, respectively, and will play a large part in the Warhawks' defensive presence.

Coach Guinn noted, "I expect us to be strong defensively which will keep us in games longer. With Lucatorto, Wirth and Zimdars, I think it will be difficult for our opponents to score."

With a strong defense in place, the team will look to returning players Taylor Ortiz (St. Charles, Ill./St. Charles East) and Alex Whiteman (Mount Prospect, Ill./Prospect) on the offensive end. Both junior midfielders chipped in on offense last season totaling five goals and four assists between the two of them.

Guinn also expects that transfers Henry Raymonds (Brookfield, Wis./Brookfield East) and Peter Raymonds (Brookfield, Wis./Brookfield East), who are twin brothers, will make an immediate impact. Henry, a junior, transferred from UW-Parkside after two years and Peter played his first two collegiate seasons at UW-Milwaukee.

"We are a young squad and there will be a learning curve that will allow our new players to adjust to the speed of the game," Guinn said of the expectations of his team. "I anticipate we will be athletic, have overall good team speed, play technically attractive soccer, but that we will make some decisions characteristic of a young team."

The 25th-ranked Warhawks will begin play this weekend when they travel to Chicago, Ill., for a match against Simpson College on Saturday and Manchester University on Sunday.

After that, they will return to Whitewater for their home-opener on September 6 against Olivet College at 4 p.m. at Fiskum Field.

Their next five matches will be on the road against the likes of Augsburg, Macalester, Concordia (Wis.), St. Norbert and No. 22 Carthage.

A pair of home games against Webster and Westminster, followed by a match at No. 23 Luther will wrap up the month of September.

October begins with three of four matches at home before concluding the season on a five-game road trip.

The Warhawks will play for four Cups in the final month of regular season play. The first is on October 4 when they host Augustana (Ill.) and look to regain possession of the Viking-Warhawk Cup. The next, the inaugural North Park vs. UW-Whitewater Cup, is on October 15 at North Park. The final two cups, the Hawk Cup and the Shaymus Guinn Cup, are currently in the Warhawks' trophy case and will be back on the line on Oct. 19 against Loras and Oct. 29 against UW-Platteville, respectively.