CONTINUITY KEY AS LOYAL AIM TO BE A POWER IN USL
Fifteen players back from team that made playoffs last season
San Diego Loyal SC’s website offers a promotion pitching a free T-shirt with the message “Stay Loyal” for fans who attend the March 19 home match against Phoenix Rising FC.
It’s worth noting that 15 players on San Diego’s roster have already taken that message to heart as they prepare for tonight’s season opener against Detroit City FC at Torero Stadium. They’re all back from last season’s 1810-6 squad that advanced to the first round of the USL Championship playoffs.
That returners mixed with new faces such as San Diego native Joe Corona, Elliot Collier, Blake Bodily and Adrian Perez should make the Loyal highly competitive in 2023, said Executive Vice President of Soccer Operations Landon Donovan, who stepped down as head coach and handed the reins to lead assistant Nate Miller in January.
“When you have that many guys return, it helps create the kind of culture we want,” Donovan said. “The players know what it’s about and they set the expectations every day of how we do things. That can be way more valuable than just having the message come from the coach every day. One thing I’ve learned is that you can easily get overly focused on what you don’t have instead of what you do. We can be very selective and the guys we’ve added will fit into how we train, how we play and how we interact with the community.”
Miller will lean on a group of key returnees over a 34game regular season.
Evan Conway was the team’s third-leading scorer with nine goals last season. He moves from the wing to a striker position for 2023, complete with a switch to jersey No. 9.
Team captain Charlie Adams will again anchor a midfield that now includes the talented and experienced Corona, a Sweetwater High School graduate who attended San Diego State.
Forward Tumi Moshobane is back after posting six goals and seven assists, and goalkeeper Koke Vegas returns after posting six clean sheets.
Vegas will be backed up by 16-year-old Durran Ferree, an academy product and San Diego native who has already displayed serious talent with the U-17 U.S. Men’s National Team.
Other key returnees include midfielder Nick Moon, who is coming back from a knee injury, midfielder and San Diego native Alejandro Guido and veteran midfielder Collin Martin.
That group, plus Corona and Bodily, should give the Loyal one of the deepest, most versatile and highly experienced midfields in the USL — something crucial in a system that presses to win balls early and creates attacking options for the team’s forwards.
The Loyal’s defense will be anchored by returnees Kyle Adams and Grant Stoneman.
One big question: how does the club replace last season’s two leading scorers: striker Kyle Vassell (14 goals) and forward Thomas Amang (11 goals)?
Vassell, a native of England, returned overseas and is playing for Kilmarnock in Scotland. Amang was released last month and is with Orange County SC.
“We have a lot of guys who can score goals,” Miller said. “We’ve added a couple of guys who score in Elliot and Adrien. We’ll rely on Evan Conway a lot. But we have a lot of guys who can score. Nick Moon can score. Alejandro can score. … And we’ll add one more piece, so that’s exciting.”
Scoring was not an issue last season as the club scored 68 goals, which ranked fourth in the 24-team USL, but defense at times was as San Diego allowed 55 goals, the most of any squad in the 12-team playoff field.
Asked to label the identity of the club after a five-game preseason schedule heading into a long regular season, Conway provided a thoughtful and detailed answer.
“Valuing the ball,” Conway said. “Trusting that keeping the ball and playing out from the back may mean we take some risks but the way we compete and the way we counterpress, if we do lose the ball, which is inevitable at times, we trust that we can win it back and then attack. Keep the ball, control the game and that’s gonna help us get the wins throughout the season.”