JAMESTOWN, N.D. (NewsDakota.com) – The University of Jamestown’s Men’s Soccer team announced their full incoming freshman class for 2020 earlier this week.
Headlining the class is Jamestown High School (JHS) graduate Ben Sletto. The Jamestown native scored one goal and added one assist in his final season at JHS. University of Jamestown Head Coach and Jamestown Club Head Coach Tommy Nienhaus has been recruiting and following Sletto’s career for a while, and he sees a smooth transition for Sletto.
“How we train and play at U-J, there’s a lot of similarities [to JHS] so Ben is probably the most ready freshman in terms of understanding how we play, our style, how we communicate,” said Nienhaus.
Sletto is one of ten incoming freshman for the 2020 season. As of now, Nienhaus has an idea of how his team will look to begin the season, but wouldn’t define a role for Sletto or any of his players.
“We don’t really peg any player to have a specific impact in terms of minutes. We are truly an open, kind of, culture that I don’t care if you’re a freshman or a senior,” said Nienhaus.
But Nienhaus reiterated Sletto could be ahead of the learning curve.
“There’s a difference between competing [against] somebody who’s 17 versus somebody who’s 23, 24,” said Nienhaus. “That speed forces you to mentally process things faster, and because Ben has had that subtle preparation the last year and a half, he’s obviously more apt to deal with it and acclimate a little earlier then say somebody who’s coming from one of the other areas or even the internationals.”
Sletto joins a diverse 2020 class that features athletes from Mexico, Venezuela, Netherlands and Germany.
“I’m excited about this class,” Nienhaus told jimmieathleitcs.com. “It oozes potential and is loaded with versatile talent. We added a pair of goalkeepers. As always, it will be fun to watch them develop and grow the next four years.”
The eclectic 2020 freshman group provides a challenge for Sletto. International players, typically, grow up engulfed in soccer more than a player born and raised in North Dakota, where soccer isn’t as highly touted, would. Young international players tend to progress a little further along the curve according to Nienhaus. With seven of the ten freshman being international, the 2020 class provides a lot of talent and high-level competition. With that being said, Sletto, who is the only recruit this year from North Dakota, being more of a defender could benefit him.
“There’s some advantages that he has in that most of my 2020 class are attacking-based players,” said Nienhaus. “Ben will probably play somewhere in among the defenders. Though that could change based on preseason and COVID.”
Speaking of COVID-19, the pandemic has impacted the fall sports season. The NAIA pushed the start of the regular season back to the middle of September and reduced the maximum number of games from 18 to 14. Unfortunately, it has wiped out all but two non-conference games for the Jimmies. The good news is the conference schedule wasn’t impacted, and Coach Nienhaus is taking an optimistic angle on the season.
“I’d rather have a season than not have one, so if this is what it takes then we’ll make it happen.”
Jamestown Men’s Soccer is scheduled to start their season September 17 against conference foe Midland University at 7:00. There complete schedule can be found with the link below.
http://www.jimmieathletics.com/schedule/0/7.php