Princeton 56ers

Football club infobox | clubname = Princeton-56ers


fullname = Princeton-56ers
nickname = PSC56, P-56ers
founded = 2005
ground = Breese Stevens Field
capacity = 4,965
chairman = Charles Billings
manager = Jim Launder
league = National Premier Soccer League
season = 2008
position = T-2nd, Midwest
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Princeton-56ers are an American soccer team, founded in 2005 through the partnership of two long-standing soccer associations in southern Wisconsin, the Madison 56ers and Princeton SC. The team is a member of the National Premier Soccer League (NPSL), the fourth tier of the American Soccer Pyramid, and plays in the Midwest Conference against teams from Indianapolis, Lawrence, Milwaukee, Rockford and St. Paul.

The 56ers play their home matches at Breese Stevens Field in the city of Madison, Wisconsin. The team's colors are red, black and white.

History

The team's first game was a 5-1 victory over Minnesota club Inferno 95 in a friendly May 15, 2005 at Breese Stevens Field, with Jed Hohlbein scoring the team's first goal. The team finished 6-8 overall and finished third in the NPSL Midwest with a 5-5 record, behind NPSL champion Detroit and Milwaukee. Jed Hohlbein was named to the inaugural NPSL All-Midwest team.

In 2006, the Princeton-56ers were 12-2-4 overall and won the NPSL Midwest title with an 8-0-2 record. They lost to the Sacramento Knights 2-0 in the NPSL championship game on July 29, 2006 at Breese Stevens Field, with Anthony Chimienti and Alfredo Renteria scoring in the final 19 minutes. The game drew a team-record crowd of 1,351. Princeton-56ers goalkeeper Eric Mickschl was named the NPSL Midwest MVP, while teammate Jed Hohlbein also made the All-Midwest team.

In 2007, the team went 13-3-1 overall and repeated as NPSL Midwest champion with an 8-1-1 record. They lost to the Southern California Fusion 1-0 in the NPSL semifinals on July 27, 2007 at Helix High School in the San Diego suburb of La Mesa, then defeated the Sonoma County Sol 1-0 in the third-place match on July 28, 2007. Princeton-56ers midfielder Brad Ring was named the NPSL Midwest MVP, and was joined on the All-Midwest team by goalkeeper Ryan Germann, defender Reed Cooper, defender-midfielder Tenzin Rampa and forward Jed Hohlbein.

In 2008, the team went 7-3-2 overall and tied for second place in the NPSL Midwest with a 3-1-2 record. Henry Aiyenero was the team's leading scorer with five goals. The Princeton-56ers played their home matches at Warner Park due to renovation at Breese Stevens Field.

Jed Hohlbein, who starred at nearby Middleton High School and played two seasons at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, led the team in goals in each of its first three seasons, scoring 10 goals in 2005 and 13 in both 2006 and 2007. He scored three goals in 2008 and is the team's career leading scorer with 39 goals.

Hohlbein had the Princeton-56ers' first hat trick in a 3-2 home victory over the St. Paul Twin Stars on May 20, 2006, then added another in a 4-1 home friendly win over German Fourth Division side SC Wiedenbruck on June 23, 2007. Andre Francois also had a hat trick in a 9-1 home win over the Madison Latino League All-Stars in a friendly on July 2, 2006, the highest scoring game in the Princeton-56ers' history. Henry Aiyenero had the fourth three-goal game in team history on July 12, 2008 in a 7-0 win over the Milwaukee Bavarians.

Their coach is Jim Launder, who coached the University of Wisconsin-Madison men's soccer team to its only NCAA championship in 1995 and was an assistant coach for the Columbus Crew of Major League Soccer from 2002 to 2004. From 2005 to 2007, their assistant coach was Danny van Mol, who also was a player-assistant coach for the team in 2005. Enzo Fuschino took over as assistant coach in 2008.

Two Princeton-56ers players have gone on to professional careers. Defender Aaron Hohlbein, like his older brother a former standout at Middleton High School and the University of Wisconsin-Madison, was selected by the Kansas City Wizards with the third pick of the 2007 Major League Soccer Supplemental Draft. He signed a senior contract with the Wizards on March 1, 2007 and made his MLS debut on April 14, 2007. Midfielder-defender Noah Goerlitz, a native of Neenah, Wis. who also played at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, played with Canterbury United in the New Zealand Football Championship in the 2006-2007 season.

The Princeton-56ers made their debut in U.S. Open Cup qualifying in 2007, as the NPSL representative. They lost to Detroit United 2-1 in the first round of the USASA Region II qualifying tournament on April 21. In 2008, they won by forfeit over the Bloomington (Ind.) Cutters in the first round of Region II qualifying, then lost to RWB Adria 2-0 in the semifinals.

The match against German Fourth Division side SC Wiedenbruck on June 23, 2007 was their first match against international competition.

2008 Roster

Year-by-year

External links

* [http://www.madison56ers.org/psc56/ Princeton-56ers]