When an owner of a sports teams says “We have the best team in the league,” many people take it as a generic statement in which they have confidence in their squad. However, when Tommy Tanner, owner of the Syracuse Silver Knights, said it in a recent interview with The Fair Cuse Sports Report, he meant it. This off-season, Tanner and the Silver Knights organization has been hard at work trying to make the team the best it’s been going into it’s sixth year of existence. Last year, the Knights made history, competing in the second round of the Major Arena Soccer League playoffs before being ousted by the eventual champion Baltimore Blast. Tanner is making sure that will not happen again this season. During the past month, the Silver Knights have made the following changes and transactions in order to keep that promise.
Tommy Tanner gave up his head coach position in order to focus on his responsibilities as the Knight’s General Manager. In doing this, he named Bryan O’Quinn, long time Knight’s starting goal keeper, Head Coach. He noted O’Quinn’s knowledge of the game and leadership on the field made naming him coach as easy decision. This past week, the Knight’s brought back Ryan Hall as Assistant Coach. Hall, who played with Tanner on the Syracuse Salty Dogs and previously acted as an assistant coach for the Knights, will join O’Quinn on the bench and Tanner sees this being a good combination which will strengthen the team as a whole. Tanner is most excited about the majority of last year’s roster returning for the upcoming season. In the past weeks, Antonio Manfut, Joey Tavernese, Kenardo Forbes, Corey Schindler, Darren Toby, Bo Jelovac, Domenico Vitale, and Slavisa Ubiparipovic have all inked deals with the Knights for the year. This core of players has proven to be successful on the pitch for the last few seasons and will have fans cheering throughout the upcoming campaign. To bolster the already returning roster of players, Tanner has signed several new players in the past month alone. Ben Ramin joins the Knight’s as a local product, along with other players who Tanner promises will be introduced very soon. He has also recruited players within the MASL to join the Knights that he guarantees will bring game changing performances. Moises Gonzalez, who scored over 60 goals in two seasons, and Diego “ The Tank” Rodriguez come to the Knights from Brownsville, who are one of six teams (Detroit/Flint, Las Vegas, Saltillo, Monterrey, Sacramento) on hiatus from the MASL this season. Patrick Thompson joins the Knights after playing with the division rival Harrisburg, a big body who will work well with Jer Jer Gibson in overpowering defenders in the offensive zone. Tanner also confirmed to The Fair Cuse Sports Report that Zach Bowman is in the radar of the Knights, who last played midfield for he Detroit/Flint Waza Flo. In the terms of indoor soccer, Tanner may be building a super team which can easily dominant over the MASL. With confidence in their current players and signings, the Knights organization decided to cancel their open combine last weekend. In past seasons, the Knights have found local talent through open combines held before regular season play began. This year, there were few registrations, most of them professional players looking for a new team. In order to give those players a real tryout without high costs of open combines, Tanner decided to invite them to closed combines and practices with the team. They will have the chance to work with the current team and give the coaches a better analysis of their skills and chemistry with the roster. Speaking of the closed tryouts, there is a goal keeper position that the Knights need to fill. With Bryan O’Quinn moving the bench as Head Coach, Andrew Coughlin sits as the lone goalkeeper for the Knights at this moment. Coughlin, who joined the Knights at the halfway point of last season, stepped up and proved himself a superior keeper even as a rookie, including taking down St. Louis and Baltimore in his first two starts. Tanner ensures there is another goalkeeper signing in the works. He says there are candidates trying out in closed tryouts for the second keeper job and the best candidate will be chosen before the start of the season. Then, of course, there may be a competition for the starting position. Besides the goalie situation, one of the only remaining unknowns is the return of Doug Miller. Tanner said the Rochester Rhinos legend is welcome to return and a decision will hopefully come apparent soon. Of course, like last season, Miller would only play home games. No matter, his veteran experience on the pitch and coaching abilities would be a major plus for the Syracuse squad. In order for fans to get a better look at his powerful team, Tanner has invited everyone to a open scrimmage on November 12th at the CNY Sports Centre in Baldwinsville. The event will have an inter-team scrimmage with all the Knights and the players looking to make the team. It will also give fans a chance to meet all the players, coaches, and organization members. It’s scheduled for a 3:30pm start. That will be followed a week later by the season opening game against Harrisburg at 7pm on November 18th in the War Memorial. The Fair Cuse Sports Report will keep you up to date leading up to those events and throughout the season with the latest news and exclusive interviews with the Syracuse Silver Knights. |
Nicholas Episcopo
Broadcasting Graduate Archives
November 2018
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