After hosting open tryouts back in March, Tobacco Road FC have started constructing their roster for their 2018 South Atlantic campaign. The club is bringing back some familiar faces, as well as bringing in some new players who have played for other South Atlantic Division clubs.

Back for another season

To headline the returning the players, TRFC has brought back midfielder Eli Garner. In 2017, Eli played 892 minutes in 12 matches and helped the club with four goals and one assist on 15 shots. He is a local product of Hillsborough and played his collegiate career at both University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. Not only does Eli bring USL experience to the roster, he brings legit attacking ability to the loaded South Atlantic Division.

Tobacco Road also brings back midfielder Henry Hannapel. Hannapel played in four games last year and is also a product of Durham. He is in the last year of his college career at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Midfielder Marshall Hodge is back for another year in the Bull City as well. Hodge racked up 635 minutes in 12 matches last season in the Black and White. Now in his senior year at Roanoke College, he started in all 19 games for Roanoke last year and earned second-team All-Old Dominion Athletic Conference honors with his 14 points.

The last of the familiar faces for Tobacco Road is Max Moser. Moser returns to the Bull City after playing 585 minutes in seven matches in his 2017 campaign. Moser, who is actually from Austria, is finishing up his junior year at Duke University. Back in Austria, Max played for Academy Voralbert but made several appearances with the first and second team of SC Austria Lustenau of the Austrian second division.

New Faces

As for the newcomers, Tobacco Road FC signed Ryan Cretens, a goalkeeper who has a lot of experience in the PDL. Cretens played for the Carolina Dynamo of the South Atlantic Division in 2017, starting in all 12 games and racking up 41 saves. He is also finishing up his senior year at the University of North Carolina at Wilmington, starting in all 20 games for the Seahawks in 2017.

To stay on the UNCW beat, TRFC brings in Ben Fisher. Fisher is a local product of Chapel Hill and is a senior at the University of North Carolina at Wilmington. In 2017, Ben played for the Wilmington Hammerheads of the PDL and tailed 559 minutes in 11 matches there, recording two assists. He will bring experience to Tobacco Road in their quest to be first in the South Atlantic Division.

Thanks for reading our latest Tobacco Road update! We will have more on TRFC closer to the start of the season, and we might just be working on a little podcast for the team as well.

In the meantime, if you want to keep up with all of the PDL clubs in the Carolinas, make sure to check out SNST’s Amateur Hour podcast too, and sign up for SNST’s weekly newsletter below!