2003
Williamsburg Legacy Coming Soon To You
For
Immediate Release
The
Williamsburg Legacy, Premier Development League (PDL) team, will take
to the field soon for the upcoming summer season. The team, in their
first year of existence in 2002, was 14-4-0 and was the Mid Atlantic
Division Champions. After winning the division the Legacy were knocked
out of the playoffs in the first round by the eventual PDL champion,
the Cape Cod Crusaders. During
their run to the Mid Atlantic Division Championship the legacy were
9-0-0 at home at Busch Field on the campus of William and Mary, scored
46 goals in their 18 games and drew close to 500 fans at each home
game to watch their attractive attacking soccer.
This
year many components of the successful inaugural 2002 season remain in
place. Head Coach, and Director of Coaching for the Williamsburg
Soccer Club (WSC), Richard Butler, will lead the Legacy. Butler has
been at the helm of the WSC since 1992. Bob Behncke, Chris Friant,
Johnny Kamara and Danny Salmon will assist him. All are also presently
coaches within the WSC travel team program. Laurie Wendell,
Chief Operating Officer, will administrate the Legacy and
volunteers will perform many duties associated to the Legacy. “I
have put together a squad of 27 players presently. The roster includes
many current NCAA Division 1 players, some Division 3 players and some
players with previous professional and PDL experience. The squad
certainly has the tools to once again be very competitive in the PDL”
Butler stated. The Legacy will begin training on May 1, 2003.
The
Legacy will play 9 home games and nine away games in the Mid Atlantic
Division. They will again compete against Raleigh CASL Elite,
Chesapeake Dragons, Richmond Kickers Future, Greenville Lions Premier,
and the expansion team West Virginia Chaos. All home games will be
played at Busch Fields on the campus of William and Mary. The team
will also have one Intra Squad scrimmage on May 7 and play the
Virginia Beach Mariners and Richmond Kickers of the A League in
friendlies.
Heading
the list of returning players are Carlos Garcia and Noah Palmer.
Garcia, a former William and Mary standout, was the second leading
scorer in the nation in the PDL in 2002. Palmer, who led the
University of Maryland to the NCAA Final Four last fall, will return
to lead the team in goal. “Having Carlos and Noah back again for the
summer is huge. Both players are leaders who are a proven quality at
the PDL level. They could be instrumental in our success in 2003.
Carlos has the ability to score and make goals out of nothing and Noah
is one of the top young goalkeepers in the nation at the moment. They
will be two very big pieces of our team this summer.” Butler said.
The
team has very local flavor to it. The roster includes Butler himself,
Doug Dahnke, Johnny Kamara and Matt Hansen, all WSC travel team
coaches. There are also 9 former WSC travel team players playing and
five players from William and Mary. The squad is rounded off with 5
players from Virginia Commonwealth University and various other
universities from around the country. A full roster can be viewed at
the Legacy web site at www.williamsburglegacy.com.
This
should be another exciting season for the Legacy. With a combination
of WSC natives and an infusion of other quality players the Legacy
should be able to improve on last years’ disappointing first round
playoff finish. “This squad has the potential to do very well this
summer. We have a number of special players within the squad who can
turn a game. We will need to get off to a flying start and maintain
the momentum in order to succeed. Once we do this, this group of
players know how to play with a certain type of flair and charisma. It
should be a fun and entertaining season for our fans” Butler said.
