The ACC men’s soccer team saw their hopes of a national tournament berth fall just short last year and look to make that goal come to fruition this season. 
Head coach Doug Desmarteau’s team reached the regional final of the playoffs in Iowa. Desmarteau said some of the team’s problems were a lack ofcomposure and players losing their cool on the field.
“We lost some of our key players to red cards which shouldn’t happen,” he said.
“But we’re picked in the top of the conference for the region this year again,” said Desmarteau.
Desmarteau believes what makes this year’s team special is they have a number of players who can score goals and make a difference on the offensive end of the field. This makes sense for a team that has nearly 80 players and will be split into varsity and junior varsity teams by the time season action gets underway.
“In years past we’ve had go-to goal scorers and I think with this team, the wealth is going to be shared. We’ve got a lot of guys who can do that. I think the ball moves quicker and won’t stop in certain places. It’s more of a team concept. A lot of these guys were here last spring and played together,” Desmarteau said.
After falling short of the national tournament last season, Desmarteau’s squad of returning players is hungry to compete for a shot at being one of the best teams in the country. Similar to many of the other programs at ACC, men’s soccer team known for consistently being one of the top junior college teams in the country.
“Our goal is to always get to the national tournament and then see where we go from there. I think this group has the potential to get there if they can stay together. Discipline, chemistry and fitness are going to be some things that win a lot of soccer games,” explained Desmarteau.
Along with many of the other teams at Allen Community College, the men’s soccer team has players with them from all over the globe. Europe and South America, where soccer is wildly popular, are heavily represented at ACC.
“We get students from all over. Obviously, we’ve got several Kansas kids from the surrounding area but also we’ve got some from Brazil, Jamaica, England, Scotland, Trinidad and Tobago, Colombia, Ecuador. I think last year we had kids from 45 different countries, we had some from the Netherlands and some from France and a couple of guys from Japan.”
The life of a student athlete can be a tall task but the men’s soccer players at Allen are not quick to back down from anything on the field or in the classroom. Though not quite at the level of Division I athletics, the junior college ranks still require a lot of work on the field, in the classroom and even in the community.
“It’s a good balance. They require a lot in the classroom and we require a lot outside of the classroom. Not only do they play soccer and take classes, but we also do a lot of stuff in the community. We run an academy with little kids that our students will go train, we run a winter futsal program down at the rec building, and we buy presents at Christmas time for local kids.”
With so many returners on this year’s men’s soccer team, Desmarteau knows how hungry his kids are to get a taste of the national tournament and redeem themselves after last season. Nothing will come easy but the head coach believes if his athletes focus and drive themselves to be their best they can achieve anything they want. 
“I think the returners want to win a championship, they want to put banners in the gym whether it’s conference, region or nationals so I think that’s where they’re at, the focus is there. They’ve already had a couple player-only meetings to set goals and to set things straight.”
The Red Devils played their first scrimmage Wednesday against Barton Community College of Great Bend.
