The men’s soccer team will have a fresh start to the season  – and a fresh new look to go with it.

Venturing away from the solid colors that teams under Coach Edkins have been accustomed to, the team will sport more colors as well as a few new designs. Graduate Assistant Kevin Cavers said he enjoyed playing a major part in designing new kits that will no longer feature plain colors.

“In the past, we’ve only done solid white and blue jerseys as well as a yellow long sleeve jersey. This will be the first year that you’ll see a white home jersey with blue pinstripes. Our away kit will have blue and grey horizontal hoops on the front with yellow lettering and numbering. The finished products just look real sharp. These are the types of jerseys that you see at the professional level, and that’s what we used as inspiration.”

Graduate goalie Barry Fitzgerald admits he was skeptical that Coach Edkins would approve the new design.

“The team was actually pretty shocked that Coach gave the green light to go with the white home kits with blue stripes and the blue and grey striped away jersey. We all believed that’s something he’d never go for since they’re so flashy compared to our old kits.”

One of the major decisions the team had to make was whether to switch brands from Nike, to which the team had been accustomed, to Adidas. Neither the players nor coaching staff objected to the switch. Cavers said the decision was unanimous, especially when it came to the ability to customize the jerseys.

“The customization options that Adidas had were a little better than Nike’s. We asked our guys and they agreed to switch to Adidas. After spending a little time on their website, it was definitely the right decision.”

Cavers notes that the cost to customize uniforms, whether they be from Nike or Adidas, can be quite expensive. Fortunately, they were able to sell many of their old uniforms and equipment at a fire sale in the Anderson Center.

The team is unable to change all of their clothing to Adidas. Although the uniforms are completely different, pregame shirts, jackets, and warmup pants will remain Nike for the near future. Coach Edkins is fond of looking the part, and while many players note that he would like everything to be the same brand, it cannot happen right away.

As a goalie, Fitzgerald won’t be able to sport the new kits like his teammates, but he’s just as excited about them, if not more so.

“I think the guys will stand out. I think the stripes will be an interesting look and, not that it particularly matters, you get a little extra confidence when you look flashy like that, and I think that will slightly benefit us.”

Although he won’t be wearing the new, flashy, stripes, Fitzgerald says Coach Edkins included Adidas goalie kits for him and the others. That way, they wouldn’t be wearing separate brands.

Sophomore players Tristan Snyder and Barry Kabinoff are happy to enter their second season with the new look.

“I didn’t think our old kits were that bad. I kind of like the simple look, but once I saw the designs in a team meeting with Coach, my opinion completely changed,” said Kabinoff. “When I look at the new kits, they remind me of the ones I see on TV that all the biggest clubs in the world wear.”

Snyder said he looks forward to wearing the away kits more than the home kits.

“When I was younger, I remember watching games on TV and playing soccer video games and the teams had those hoops, and I thought they were so cool. I’ve never been able to wear a jersey with that design, so I’m extremely excited to be able to wear them for the next three seasons.”

Cavers admits that the stripes aren’t his personal favorite as they are Snyder’s, but he is happy with the finished product and has become quite fond of the new designs.

“There are a lot of jerseys that stand out,” Cavers said. “Some of the best kits in the world have solid colors. One of the most famous kits in the world are Real Madrid’s and they are very basic. That being said, with the options available, I think we did the best job we could have done.”

A common phrase among people is “look good, feel good.” Similarly, many athletes go by the phrase “look good, play good,” and in this case, Fitzgerald agrees with both of those statements.

“I think the way we look will improve the way we feel on the field and in turn will benefit our play. The fit of our last jerseys weren’t all that great, so I think the team will be much more comfortable and not only look good, but feel good and improve our play. When you look flashy, whether it’s your uniform or cleats, you get a bigger sense of confidence, and I think that goes a long way in terms of achieving our goals.”

The soccer team ended their 2014 campaign with an overall record of 15-6-2 and finished 6-1 in the conference. Although they were unable to beat King’s College in the Conference semi-finals, they did move on to the ECAC South Championships where they defeated PSU-Harrisburg 1-0 in the final.

“It was nice to win a trophy at the end of the year,” said Kabinoff. “But I have to admit, The ECAC trophy wasn’t our priority at the beginning of the season. Our goal was to win the Conference Championship and move on to the NCAA tournament, which we weren’t able to achieve.”

During the spring, the team competed in their spring play date scrimmaging mulitple teams. Snyder says it would have been nice to play in the new kits for these games, but he acknowledges the team was not too worried about which kits were available.