Brits bring world of experience to CSS soccer

Jermaine Dacres didn’t know where Minnesota was when he was contacted by St. Scholastica men’s soccer coach Barry Chastey in late July 2007 about an opportunity to attend the college and play for the Saints.

The Nottingham, England, native found out two days later after seeing news reports about the Interstate 35W bridge collapse in Minneapolis. Not long after that, Dacres headed for Duluth to begin his collegiate career.

An ankle injury ended his season after 10 games, in which he managed one goal and three assists. This season, however, the21-year-old midfielder is back in top form — with two goals and four assists in five games — and he brought a friend.

This year, Courtney Bonnick followed Dacres’ path to St. Scholastica via Nottingham. The 21-year-old striker has three goals and one assist for the Saints, second in team scoring to his friend of10 years. St. Scholastica (3-2 overall, 1-0 Upper Midwest Athletic Conference) hosts Northwestern (1-4, 0-0) in a UMAC game at 2 p.m. today.

“Jermaine has helped me out a lot,” Bonnick said of his transition into life at college and in the United States. “We stayed in contact via e-mail before I came over.”

Dacres assisted on Bonnick’s two goals in a season-opening 3-1 victory over Hamline on Aug. 30. Bonnick’s lone assist came on a goal by Dacres three games later. In the Saints’ latest win, 2-0 against Concordia-Moorhead on Tuesday, Dacres assisted on goals by Dustin James of Superior and Brandon Stemwedel of Grand Rapids.

“I feel like sometimes if I react quickly, I can almost play blind, because I can kind of sense where [Bonnick’s] going to be on the field,” Dacres said. “So, I can play that blind ball, and nine times out of 10 it’ll end up on his feet or remotely close to where he is.”

They aren’t the only Brits on the team. Freshman goalkeeper Sam Reed is from Eastbourne, England, and Chastey and assistant coach Dave Robinson also are English. Chastey, 33, moved to the U.S. in 2000, and Robinson, 50, has lived in Duluth for 21 years.

The Saints have another pair of international players, sophomore midfielder Toby Peter of Germany and freshman midfielder-defender Asos Amin of Sweden.

Chastey found Dacres through a recruiting service based in Nottingham and was able to get feedback on Dacres from a pair of coaches he knew from there. Soon after arriving in Duluth, Dacres encouraged Bonnick to follow.

The experience the international players have brought to St. Scholastica has improved the team significantly, Chastey said.

“They’ve obviously played, coached at a high level,” he said. “They’ve certainly helped people [on the team].”

Dacres played five games before his initial injury a year ago. He missed three games and returned for another five before suffering a season-ending setback.

“I think I came back way, way too early — way early. I felt maybe 70 percent; my confidence wasn’t there. I didn’t want to do certain things, turn. I couldn’t really cross [the ball]. So I lost a lot of confidence,” Dacres said. “This season I feel like I’m back to where I was at the beginning of last year.”

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***Article written by Jimmy Bellamy-Duluth News Tribune***