Kitsap Pumas News Release -- www.kitsapsoccerclub.com
Friday, March 30, 2012
BREMERTON, Wash. – The 2011 USL PDL champion Kitsap Pumas announced the signing of 10 players today for the upcoming 2012 PDL season subject to USL and USSF approval.
Six are returning from last year's squad – assistant coach Dustyn Brim, goalkeeper Zac Lubin, defender Taylor Hyde, pictured, defender Steve Mohn, midfielder Matt Friesen and midfielder/defender Kyle Johnson. Hyde and Mohn were part of a defense that kept 12 clean sheets, three of which were in the playoffs.
Friesen scored eight goals and three assists while Johnson scored a goal and an assist. Lubin started two games, one of which was a first round U.S. Open Cup match against Chivas-El Paso where he held the Patriots to no goals and made two saves in the penalty kick shootout. Brim was a starter for the first two years before successive back surgeries put him on the sidelines. He was an assistant coach last season.
“We're excited to get a core of the championship team back,” head coach James Ritchie said. “We think we can build around them. With the new boys coming in, we expect a high level of football from them. We think it'll be an exciting year.”
“They are the foundation of our team,” owner Robin Waite said. “These guys know the system, they're very talented players and we're very happy to have them back.”
Brim will serve as a player/coach this season.
Goalkeeper Liviu Bird was a member of the team in the inaugural season and played on the Pumas reserves last year. He played two years for Highline Community College, then transferred to Seattle Pacific.
Two players – forward Christopher Bettencourt and defender Pierre Rappolt – were selected through the Bay Area talent finding excursion in California. A graduate of Sacramento State, Bettencourt earned First Team All-Mountain Pacific Sports Federation honors last season. He scored seven goals to lead the team and also notched four assists. He set a school record in points his junior year with 27 and was named MPSF tournament MVP as the Hornets made the second round of the NCAA tournament.
“I think Bettencourt could be a hidden gem,” Brim said. “He seems to just have a knack for where the ball is going to be and how to put it in the back of the net. He had a lot of game-winning goals (nine over the last two seasons) so he knows how to show up at the right time on the big stage.”
Rappolt is a graduate of Skyline Community College and played last season for DV8, a men's amateur team that plays in the Peninsula
Soccer League in the Bay Area.
Midfielder Daniel Macleod rounds out the signings. A native of Scotland, Macleod played for the country's U19 international team and played two years with Elgin City, a team that competes in the Scottish Football League Third Division.
More signings will be announced once paperwork is finalized.