It's the start of a new era for the Northwest men's soccer program, as longtime assistant coach Charlie Baldwin gets ready to begin his first season as head coach, replacing Peter Jarjoura, who retired in the spring following 11 seasons in charge.

The Rangers are coming off a 5-7-1 record and fifth place finish in the MACJC North Division last season, with six of their seven losses ending in a one goal difference.

However, the Rangers have a high level of optimism going into this season. The team's top three leading scorers from last season all return in Gnande Zleh (eight goals, five assists, 21 points), Aaron Terrazas (seven goals, three assists, 17 points) and Muhamed Bojang (six goals, five assists, 17 points).

Several other sophomores also saw significant playing time last season, including Peter Geraci who started all 13 games, while Christian Zelaya (13 games), Jason Farmer (12 games) and Dylan Mims (12 games) all return with more experience and drive this season.

Goalkeeper Taylor Thevenot went 5-5 between the posts last season and allowed just 12 goals (1.20 GAVG) in 898 minutes of work. He stopped 39 shots and had a .765 save percentage.  

"All of our sophomores have said they're coming in more motivated," Baldwin said. "They're trying to win a state championship, and they all play really well together as a team."

The Rangers have a total of 10 freshmen joining the roster this season, including offensive weapon Anthony Fernandez, who scored 99 career goals while playing at New Albany High School.

Northwest will also benefit from familiarity on the pitch, as the roster has three sets of brothers in Jason and Zach Farmer, Peter and Dominic Geraci and Anthony and Gabriel Fernandez. 

As for the 2013 schedule, the Rangers will once again have stiff competition in the MACJC North Division. Holmes and East Central topped the standings last season and both are expected to have another solid season. Hinds and Itawamba are also expected to compete for the division title this season. The road was also not kind last season, as the Rangers notched just one road victory in five games.

"Winning on the road is always tough anywhere you go in the MACJC," Baldwin said. "You're typically at least a one-goal underdog going on the road. We have more threats this year as far as scoring goes, and I expect that to give us even more depth going into division play and on the road."

After a pair of exhibition games at Gulf Coast and Pearl River on Aug. 16-17, Northwest will open the 2013 regular season on Aug. 23 at Southwest Mississippi. 

The 2013 roster is available here.