The Lancaster Bible College men's soccer team has been trending upward over the past four seasons and the Chargers hope the 2016 season is the year the team finally gets over the hump and advances to the NCAA Division III National Tournament. After appearances in the NEAC Final in 2014 and the NEAC Semifinals in 2015, Lancaster Bible's mixture of returners and newcomers hope to form the potion to make a long playoff run. 

The Past
Lancaster Bible finished 13-7-3 in 2015 as the Chargers advanced to the NEAC Semifinals before falling to eventual champion Morrisville State, 1-0 in Morrisville, N.Y...The Chargers played seven overtime games in 2015, finishing with a 3-1-3 record in games that went past the 90-minute mark...Lancaster Bible played some of its best soccer in the middle of the season when the Chargers went on a seven-game unbeaten streak (6-0-1) from Sept. 29 - Oct. 15...The Chargers played one nationally ranked team during the 2015 campaign and lost a close game to cross-county neighbor, Elizabethtown, 2-1 as the Blue Jays were ranked 16th in the country at the time of the game...Lancaster Bible's 8-3-1 conference record was the best in program history...Senior Josiah Groff was named NEAC Player of the Year as he led the conference with 13 goals, 11 assists and 37 points.

The Fresh Faces
Lancaster Bible welcomes 11 new players into the fold this season...Information on six of the 11 can be found in an article that was published earlier in the summer...In addition the six listed in the article, Head Coach Tom Ardt said the Patz boys (Antonio Patz and Marco Patz), transfers from Trinity International University, will also play a big role on this year's squad as both bring experience and athleticism to their respective positions...Throughout the preseason and the team's two scrimmages, Ardt said several newcomers have played well, including Dan Bewersdorff, who will be a key player in the midfield this season...Ardt said depth will be a big positive for the Chargers this season as the newcomers have meshed well with the returners and the Chargers are deep at several positions.

The Experience
The Chargers return 14 players from last year's team, including NEAC 1st Team All-Conference selections Edward Bills and Spencer Lockard, as well as NEAC 3rd Team All-Conference honoree, Eric Bailey...Ardt said Bills will once again be dangerous up front as the junior tallied 10 goals last season...Ardt also mentioned Bailey is in great form, as are Lockard, Justin Stoltzfus and Dom Baffone...Senior Ben Noel returns for his fourth year and will play a big role for the Chargers after playing in only eight games last season due to injury...Ardt said it has been great to have Noel back both on the field and off the field...Also back are goalkeepers Vann Sutphin and Thiago Naque, as well as defenders Jared Jordan and Tony Gehman...Forward Nathan Recalo returns as well and will be looked upon to help fill the void left by Groff who graduated...Leighton Smith, Brendon Dooley and Caleb Nelson return in the midfield and all are large parts of the depth Ardt talked about all preseason long.

The Coach Says
"This has been our best preseason we have had in my six years as the head coach," Ardt said. "We have a group of learners who are hungry to play well and play the right way. We are balanced and have depth and throughout the preseason and in our scrimmages, the guys have shown they are ready to play and we are excited to get the season going."

The Outlook
Ardt said the two scrimmages the team had this preseason went well and the team has already improved a couple of things from those scrimmages...Ardt said he is excited for the team's non-conference games and believes the team will be tested throughout the year in out-of-conference contests...The Chargers non-conference opponents are Ramapo (A, Sept. 1), Summit (H, Sept. 3), Cairn (A, Sept. 13), Gwynedd Mercy (H, Sept. 27), Elizabethtown (H, Oct. 18) and Houghton (H, Oct. 25)...As was the case the past two seasons, Ardt believes the Chargers have the type of team that can not only advance to the NEAC Playoffs, but make some noise in the tournament too...Lancaster Bible plays 19 games during the regular season, 10 of which are at Charger Field...The Chargers play just three road games in October after playing six times on the road in September...Lancaster Bible will make two trips to New York during the regular season as the Chargers head north on the third weekend of both September and October...Lancaster Bible's last two conference games will be at home as the Chargers host Penn College on Oct. 22 and Bryn Athyn on Oct. 28.

The Links
Schedule
Roster
2016 Media Guide
Live Audio and/or Video
North Eastern Athletic Conference Website

Editor's Note: The women's soccer preview story will be published on Thursday, followed by the women's volleyball preview on Friday.