Romeoville, Ill. - Lewis University head men's soccer coach Evan Fiffles preached patience with his 2012 squad that was filled with underclassmen.
 
After losing seven of their first 10 contests, the Flyers, led by his talented and youthful squad, rallied to win six of their final eight games.
 
Fiffles hopes to ride that momentum into the 2013 campaign - starting with Thursday night's regional match-up and season opener against 2012 National Runner-Up Saginaw Valley State. Action is set to begin at 7:30 PM at Lewis Stadium.
 
"We knew it was going to take some time with the freshmen to find out who is going to do what for us at a certain level," Fiffles said. "We lost two 1-0 games in September, and if the ball bounced our way, we could have easily been 11-7 with six to eight freshmen playing.
 
"Hopefully that experience, coupled with our new recruits coming in, will be the difference this season."
 
While it was an impressive run at the end of the season, Fiffles has placed high expectations upon his 2013 squad.
 
"Everybody needs to perform better from top to bottom," Fiffles said. "While nine wins and getting to the GLVC Tournament is a good season for a lot of teams, it's not acceptable for us."
 
One freshman standout was the performance of midfielder Luke Comerouski (Itasca, Ill./Christian Liberty Academy). Comerouski was second on the team with four goals and 10 points in 2012.
 
Fiffles seeks a bounce back year from senior Cristhian Ramirez (Wheeling, Ill./Wheeling) and junior George Thomson (Kilmarnock, Scotland/Reid Kerr College). In 2011 – that duo combined for 13 goals and 14 assists. Last season, Ramirez and Thomson totaled seven goals and four assists.
 
Last season, Ramirez was often marked, as he scored nine goals as a sophomore before being limited to two in 2012. Thomson led the Flyers in scoring in 2012, finding the back of the net five times and finishing with 14 points.
 
While Comerouski, Ramirez and Thomson are charged with the scoring duties, it will be up to senior goalkeeper Alec Pickett (Mokena, Ill./Providence ) to turn away the opposing offense.
 
In three seasons, Pickett has appeared in 34 contests and is holding opponents to a 1.19 goals against average. He will be challenged for time between the pipes by junior transfer Omar Ramirez (Houston, Texas/Elsik).
 
In front of either Pickett or Ramirez will be an experienced group of defenders, led by juniors and twin brothers David and Michael Pyle (Glen Ellyn, Ill./Glenbard South). In two seasons, the Pyle's have appeared in a combined 70 games with 64 starts.  Last season, the Pyle's spearheaded a defense that held opponents to 1.17 goals-per-game.
 
Their former linemate, Lenin Roa-Tapia (Schaumburg, Ill./Hoffman Estates) will make the transition to the midfield after starting all 18 games on the backline for the Flyers. Ramirez and Thomson can both play midfield, as well as forward, while junior Lukasz Szczesniak (Skomielna Biala, Poland/Reavis ) could also see time.
 
Other forwards expected to contribute are sophomores John McLachlan (Berwyn, Ill./Nazareth Academy) and Robert Zieba (Lockport, Ill./Lockport).
 
Fiffles has imported a talented 2013 recruiting class that could make an impact right away for the Flyers. Including Ramirez, Flyer newcomers Alexandro Ayala (South Holland, Ill./Thornwood) (midfield), Kyle Collins (Lisle, Ill./Lisle) (defense), Johnathan Silvar (Romeoville, Ill./Romeoville) (forward) and Ivan Surlina (Lombard, Ill./Glenbard East) (midfield) will all have a chance to compete in their rookie seasons at Lewis.
 
While 2013 is a brand new year for the Flyers, Fiffles believes that there is a simple solution to continued success as a soccer program.
 
"We need to keep the ball out of the back of our net, take care of the ball as a team and score a goal," Fiffles said.