ITHACA, N.Y. – Following a 1-14-2 record in his first year as the head coach of the Cornell men's soccer team in 2016, John Smith has seen a consistently upward trajectory from his squad since.
 
Smith led the Big Red to a six-win improvement between his first and second years on East Hill. After his second year, he has led the program to three consecutive 10-win seasons – a feat never previously accomplished in program history.
 
"I look back on our first year with fond memories," Smith reflected. "One of the more challenging things for us today is if you look at this entire squad, no members were here during the difficult moments. That saddens me because when you have that link to the past, you become easily grounded when you have a group of guys that went through those tough times."
 
Compared to his first year with the program, something the team now has is depth at every position. Smith believes in competition and mentioned that some players on this year's roster have to look over their shoulders to see who is competing for their spot. In some cases, more than one player may be battling for a position on the pitch.
 
"The biggest challenge for me is to create an environment where you have that genuine competition," Smith said. "Each guy is trying to outdo the others playing that spot and once you've outdone him, you have to pull him over your shoulder and bring him through and make him better."
 
As the team currently trains for its first two games of the season in California, the need for players glancing over their shoulders makes the group ultra-competitive.
 
"The competitive spirit we have in this program is a differentiator. When we play games, it's what sets us apart," Smith stated. "The relentlessness, and when you couple that with the higher skill set we've had, as the years have progressed and the recruiting classes come in, has made for the last three successful seasons. Because of this, our team spirit is the mainstay of our program."
 
Here is a look at each position for this year's upcoming 2022 season:

Goalkeepers

Brady McSwain is coming off a 2021 season that featured him playing every second for Cornell. He concluded the season with a 1.19 goals against average and a .710 save percentage for the Big Red, who went 11-3-2 last year.
 
Freshman Ryan Friedberg and Evan Sims will be the other two goalkeepers on the roster this season.
 
"There's a strong chance one of them could step up this year," Smith said.

Defense

A yearly goal of Smith's is to concede less than a goal per game. That hasn't happened over the five years of competition under his tutelage, but with nine of the 11 defenders who played last season returning, that could aid Smith in achieving his goal.
 
"One of the areas for us, when we set our goals, is to try to let in fewer than one a game. We've not done that yet," Smith said. " If you want to make the postseason, you need to be a program averaging fewer than a goal per game.
 
"We've strengthened in terms of depth. We're not just returning players in the back, we've also brought guys in and brought guys in goal, which is going to make us better all-around."
 
Henry Hylbert and Wilson Eisner, the first Cornell freshman to earn All-Ivy League first team honors since 1997, are two mainstays of the Big Red back line that return this season.
 
Other returning defenders for the Big Red include Connor Drought, Cam Maquat, Nick Allen, Kisa Kiingi, Mateo Rodriguez and Brennan Mallett.
 
Mark Roby, a transfer from South Carolina, will look to make an impact in his first season at Cornell. With the Gamecocks, he started in 29 of his 34 appearances, aiding South Carolina to nine clean sheets during his three years with the program.

Midfielders

The most significant question mark for the Big Red this season is at midfield, as the losses of fifth-year players Tyler Bagley and Henry Fuller are rather substantial.
 
Bagley, a unanimous All-Ivy League first team selection after leading Division I in points-per-game last year, and Fuller combined for 19 of the team's 40 goals in 2021.
 
"That's the question we're asking ourselves. On our minds is, 'How are we going to replace that?'" Smith said. "Tyler scored 14 and Harry scored five. It's something that we're in the process of trying to figure out, 'Okay, where are the goals going to come from?'
 
"It's tough to replace a 14-goal person. He led the country in points per game. There aren't many people who score double-figure goals in Division I soccer, so that'll be tough. We have to look to spread it out over a bigger area, so our front six guys need to be productive as an entire group."
 
Junior Lalo Serrano is the lone returning starting midfielder from last year's squad. In 16 games, 15 of which were starts, Serrano recorded a pair of assists. Seniors Brandon Morales and Kurt Lehmkuhl each played nine games and made one start for the Big Red in 2021. Morales recorded three assists last season.
 
Junior Noel Ortega and sophomore Cody Torgovnik are the other midfielders who played last season, logging a pair of appearances.
 
Ben Goulding, Sahyd Nevado Masso, Daniel Samways and Westin Carnevale will be four freshmen midfielders seeking to ease Bagley and Fuller's losses from the lineup.

Forwards

Up front, Cornell returns six forwards from last year's team, highlighted by Emeka Eneli, who was an All-Ivy League first team selection in 2021. Eneli concluded the previous year with 21 points (seven goals, seven assists) over 15 games.
 
"We expect more [offense] from someone like Emeka," Smith said. "He's one of the best players in the country."
 
Last year, Eneli was the Big Red's top striker, but the team didn't know who the second forward would be in the team's formation. As the calendar now reads 2022, Smith has plenty of players to pick from to play alongside Eneli.
 
"We didn't necessarily have an obvious second striker. We had some freshmen that had come in that we knew were going to be great, but they were young," Smith said. "When I look at it this year, there's an abundance of guys who could play up top."
 
Some names that could spend time at the top of the formation this season are sophomore Alioune Ka, who logged five points (two goals, one assist) in 15 games off the bench in 2021, senior Griffin Garrard and junior Matthew Goncalves. Both Garrard and Goncalves scored for the Big Red last year and are additional options that Smith could use in the lineup.
 
Sophomores Danny Lokko and Patricio Parra Ramon were the only two freshman forwards who played last year. Fellow sophomore Matthew Hutchison and freshman Dakota Jonke will seek to make their collegiate debuts in 2022.

Looking Ahead

Cornell opens the 2022 season in California with a pair of Labor Day weekend contests in the Golden State. The Big Red's season begins Friday with a match against UC Santa Barbara at 10 p.m. ET (7 p.m. PT) before a Monday matinee at UC Irvine at 5 p.m. ET. (2 p.m. PT).