Premier Development League: Roster changes have been name of the game for Sockers

MIDLAND The West Texas United Sockers knew this would happen.

The roster was expected to change throughout the season - partly because of college players completing their semester after the season started - and it has.

Since the team's exhibition opener April 10, the Sockers have added 12 players - four before the regular season opener May 2 - and released three.

Before the Sockers' game at 7:30 p.m. today against the Houston Leones (0-9-3, three points) at Grande Communications Stadium, they played an intrasquad scrimmage. Based on it and previous scrimmages, head coach Jesus Enriquez evaluated and selected his starting 11 players for today.

It is a constant tryout, necessary, Enriquez said, because of steady roster adjustments.

"Some of the kids aren't practicing and they're ready one week and for the other they're not," he said. "We're lacking in getting the same 11 players (on the field)."

Finding the most effective combination will be key from here on. The Sockers (4-3-3, 15 points) sit in fifth place in the Premier Development League's Mid South Division - the top three qualify for the playoffs - with six games remaining in a short span, ending with the season finale July 19. The Sockers also host Major League Soccer's FC Dallas for an exhibition game July 7.

The newest addition is forward Ben Everson, a soon-to-be senior at West Texas A&M who received the Southwest Soccer Conference's Offensive Player of the Year award last season.

Everson came to the Sockers earlier this week from another PDL team, the Bradenton (Fla.) Academics. He was unsatisfied with the situation there and joined the Sockers after a recommendation from midfielder Dominic Furness, a teammate at A&M who joined the Sockers in the week before a 1-0 win May 15 against Laredo and, like Everson, is from Middlesbrough, England.

At Bradenton, the starters were set from the season opener - many were returners - and little changed, Everson said.

With the Sockers, Everson joins a fluid situation.

"It means that it's easier to get on a team like this, with a lot of changes," he said. "I think that helps me that this is a new team."

The Sockers' situation also means players like forward Carlos Guillen, an Odessa native, must continue to work to earn a starting spot or significant minutes. Guillen started more often earlier in the year but has not in the last two games.

He said some of it has to do with strategies against opposing teams, but he is trying to get back in the lineup.

It is a battle every practice.

"You have to step up your game every time because you don't know who's going to come in - everybody wants your spot," Guillen said. "It's a lot of competition."

Enriquez sees his team's situation as a good thing. It keeps players on their toes.

He hopes it will be different next year, when the franchise has a year under its belt.

For now, the positional battles continue in the midst of trying to get in the playoff mix. Still, Enriquez said, improved performances will matter most in the Sockers' late-season push.

"We have a playoff team, even though we have a lot of inexperienced kids," Enriquez said. "But we have a good team. We're there, we dominate almost all of the games, but somehow we're lacking in goals - whether it's a dumb mistake or just missing the goal."