GREENVILLE, Pa. – Under the new leadership of head coach Chris Limle, the Thiel College men's soccer team is looking forward to a year of continued improvement. Limle arrived at Thiel after serving as a graduate assistant coach for the men's soccer team at Division II Concord University.

Limle is laying the foundation for a new coaching philosophy with the men's soccer program.

"My coaching philosophy is based around the idea of movement and attacking soccer," Limle said. "This means we play a very smart system of soccer that requires players to be fit and technical. Our system is based on a similar system used at the University of Akron, the 2010 Division I NCAA Champions. I plan on bringing a more total soccer strategy that focuses on making soccer minded people, better soccer players. We are going to become a very dynamic team that allows players to be versatile on the field."

Limle took over for Andy Hoggarth, the 2012 International Soccer Network Coach of the Year, who took a job at the University of Akron in the spring.

Last year, the Tomcats had an overall record of 4-12-2 and 0-7-1 in their conference games. Also last season, Francis Ahia (Penn Hills, Pa./Penn Hills), Erik Gabrich (Baden, Pa./Freedom ), and Arran Robertson (Port St. Lucie, Fla. /Lincoln Park Academy ) were all named to the All-Presidents' Athletic Conference Honorable Mention team.

"Our goal is to repeat an eight win season that was accomplished in the 2010-2011 season when the graduating seniors were freshmen at Thiel," Limle said.

Some of the key returners for the Tomcats are the eight returning seniors Limle mentioned. He also noted that juniors Tyler Strite (Fayetteville, Pa./Shalom Christian), Zach Kubec (Geneva, Ohio/Geneva), Trevor Ridilla (Boswell, Pa./North Star), and Eric Wolf (Girard, Ohio/Liberty) will make a significant impact to the team this season.

The Tomcats will open up the season at home Saturday against Juniata College. Kickoff Saturday is set for 1 p.m.