Almin Sabotic is a prototypical midfield player for the University of Missouri-St. Louis men’s soccer team. According to the men’s soccer coaching staff and his teammates, Sabotic deserves to wear the traditional number 10 jersey, which is often reserved for the playmaker in soccer squads.
“He’s a big player and is real technical in the midfield,” Johnny O’Mara, junior, marketing, said. “He and the other junior college transfers should fit in just fine.” The Tritons welcome 10 new players, including Sabotic, with six coming from local junior colleges.
“Almin is a good all-around player,” Coach Dan King, UM-St. Louis men’s soccer coach, said. “He’s a real team player with great vision.”
Sabotic, junior, media studies, is a junior college transfer from St. Louis Community College- Meramec. During his Meramec career, he was named to the 2009 National Junior Collegiate All-American Team, NJCAA, and was 2009 conference player of the year.
“My job on the field is to be a good distributor and playmaker,” Sabotic said. “That’s my role as the central midfielder.”
Coach King and Sabotic also agree that there is some more room for improvement. “He needs to be a little more vocal on the field,” Coach King said. “He is kind of a quiet kid.”
“It is something I need to work on,” Sabotic said. “But after a few more practices and in-game situations I should feel more vocally comfortable.”
After moving here from Montenegro, located near Bosnia-Herzegovina and Serbia, during the Balkan War via Germany, Sabotic attended Mehlville High School in South County. In 2008 Sabotic began playing for Meramec.
“I enjoyed my time playing there,” he said. After the Meramec men’s soccer program was cut Sabotic said Coach King, who had been looking at the midfielder since his freshman year, offered him a chance to play at UM-St. Louis. “I am looking forward to this season,” Sabotic said.
Coach King enters his tenth season as the Tritons head men’s soccer coach, sporting a 63-84-17 record. According to a recent GLVC pre-season poll, UM-St. Louis is picked to finish ninth in the conference. “The old cliché is you can’t play this game on paper,” Coach King said. “It will take time for us to mesh a bit, but as a team the guys feel confidant.”
Last season the Tritons qualified for the Great Lakes Valley Conference tournament, but lost in double overtime in the first round. “Our main goal is to improve on last year’s performance,” O’Hara said. “If we can host the preliminary rounds in the conference tournament then anything can happen.”
The Tritons open their season on September 2 at Newman University in Kansas, followed by their home opener on Sunday September 5. Kickoff is at 2:30 p.m. following the women’s soccer game at noon.