In his first regular season match since the 2017 USL championship, Luke Spencer picked up where he left off a season ago – on the scoring sheet.
After scoring a team-best 11 goals in 2017, Spencer added to his career total with a strike in the 56th minute to take the lead in the club’s home opener.
“As a striker, in the offseason you think about scoring a lot of goals and you try to envision yourself doing that,” said the 6-foot-2 forward. “To get off to a good start, for me, meant a lot.”
While his goal helped the club start the season on the right foot with an early 3 points, the process towards defending the league championship starts in early preseason for the “Boys in Purple”.
“I had good expectations coming in from the offseason after speaking with James [O’Connor] and Dan [Byrd], and their expectations were for me to come in as fit as possible and rest up some niggles that I had from the season prior,” said Spencer.
A rigorous preseason kept Spencer in shape with fitness and cardio being his focus, though the Xavier graduate made sure he was sharp with the ball heading into the club’s trip to IMG Academy and leading into the season opener.
His goal in the 2-0 win over Nashville SC came off an assist from midfielder Niall McCabe, who also returned for the 2018 season.
“A lot of our early successes in preseason were definitely affected by our ability to bring back as many guys as we did again this year,” added Spencer.
One of 15 returners from a year ago, Spencer recognizes not only his personal expectations but also those of the team.
“We knew what to expect from each other and we knew that if we weren’t playing to our standard, we could hold each other accountable. That’s a testament to bringing that same group back,” said Spencer. “If we’re in a game and we aren’t playing at a high level, we can get on each other.”
With another eye on the weekend, Spencer wants to make sure he continues to take his team roll in stride – using his frame to maintain possession in the attacking half and adding his name to the scoring sheet.
“If you’re getting the call, you’d like to set markers on goals scored,” he said. “If you get your number called, you’d like to help lead the team by getting those goals.”
