As the curtain rises on the 2006 soccer season at UTM, there are plenty of new faces filling in roles for the team.

Perhaps the most significant change is the one that has taken place on the sideline, where England native Craig Roberts replaces Nathan Pifer, who resigned the head coaching position to accept an administrative and coaching position at the Christian Academy of Knoxville.

Roberts served most recently as an assistant coach at the Virginia Military Institute, helping to lead the team to its first winning season in 16 years. He also served as the head coach of the men’s and women’s programs at St. Pius X High School in Kansas City, Mo., and assisted with the Kansas City Wizards and the Missouri Olympic Development Staff.

The Skyhawks finished 9-10 overall in 2005, including a 7-2 home mark that included a perfect slate against non-conference foes.

The team averaged 2.32 goals per game and recorded a season-high seven goals in an Oct. 2 win over Morehead State. Four different players had multi-goal games, led by forward Katie Jackson, who did it twice.

Five members graduated from the 2005 squad, including goalkeeper Megan Dempsey. Her departure means incoming freshman Cara Sullivan will need to contribute immediately in goal for the Skyhawks.

“Cara Sullivan will be a freshman starting goalkeeper for us this year. She is very confident in her ability and will make big saves when called upon,” said Roberts.

Also gone are the familiar faces of defender Lindsey Tilk and Jackson, who both started all 19 Skyhawk games. Jackson led the team with nine goals and 22 points. Departed forward Dani Myrick finished a close second on the team in scoring with eight goals and 21 points. Katie Hausauer started all 18 games she played as midfielder.

Pifer signed eight players in the offseason and several of them will step up immediately to play significant roles this season for their new coach.

Other first-year players include Sophie Cox, a deceptive defender; Kendal Straessle, a physical midfielder; and Canadian forward Stephanie Krush.

“Our newcomers will play a major role on this team. They are the new foundation of the UTM to come,” Roberts says.

Despite their lack of experience on the college level, Roberts expects his freshmen to acclimate to their new roles quickly.

“They have the skill and enthusiasm to take this team far. Once we iron out a few learning errors, we will do well,” he says.

A major component of any successful season is the schedule, and the Skyhawks face a challenging slate this year. Along with road games against Belmont and UT-Chattanooga, the Skyhawks will host Memphis and Southwest Missouri. The team will also participate in the Northern Arizona Invitational and will host its annual Puma Skyhawk Invitational. Those games will be accompanied by a nine-game OVC docket that includes a home game against three-time defending conference champion and favorite Samford on Friday, Oct. 13. That game is one of four league contests that will be played at Skyhawk Field this season.

“I believe the schedule allows us to play a variety of different level teams. It will test us against not only local teams but teams across the country,” Roberts says.

Roberts also notes the chance to experience a West Coast style of soccer on the visit to Northern Arizona, a contrast from the style of play in this part of the country.

The Skyhawks have been picked to finish ninth by the coaches of the OVC, just behind Morehead State and ahead of Eastern Kentucky.

Even at this early point in the season, Roberts has noticed plenty of improvement in his team along with the potential for more.

“We are very young but talented. We will need a lot of tuition to compete with some of the stronger teams around,” said Roberts.

First-year UTM head soccer coach Craig Roberts will have to wait at least a few more days for his first victory at the helm of the Skyhawks.

After falling to Belmont 4-1 on Friday in their regular-season opener, the Skyhawks failed to find the back of the net as they fell to Memphis 7-0 in front of a crowd of 122 at Skyhawk Field on Sunday.

Early in the game, both teams had chances to score but came away empty. In the first minute of action, a shot by a Lady Tiger glanced off the goalpost and bounced harmlessly away from the goal. Minutes later, Skyhawk forward Katie Behrens separated herself from the pack, only to have her shot attempt knocked aside by Lady Tiger goalkeeper Isabel Briones. The shot on goal was one of only two in the game for the Skyhawks.

“Memphis is a very good team and we just weren’t able to keep up with them,” Roberts said.

Behrens was the only Skyhawk who found a way through the Memphis defense on a consistent basis. Otherwise, the home team was never able to control the ball in its offensive half of the field and thus had very few legitimate scoring opportunities.

“Katie showed great leadership today but I want to see everyone on the team attacking and getting shots because this is a team game,” Roberts said.

Defensively, the Skyhawks matched the Lady Tigers’ intensity in the first 20 minutes of the game before fatigue began to set in and the visiting team pounced. Defenders Jamie Price, Caitlin Smith and Sophie Cox pressured and pursued the ball aggressively and had some success in keeping the Memphis attack at bay. Even when the attackers approached the goal, the UTM defense held its ground and kept the ball from reaching the net.

The second Lady Tiger goal of the first half came less than two minutes before the intermission and took the wind out of the Skyhawks’ sails. Both first-half tallies went to forward Shoko Mikami, who added another goal with 17 seconds left in the game to complete a hat trick. Memphis outshot UTM 8-3 in the half.

The second half was no kinder to the tired Skyhawks, who allowed five goals during that frame, including three in the closing minutes. The loss dropped their season record to 0-2.