2018 Peachtree City MOBA PDL Season Preview

At long last, after nearly ten months of waiting, the 2018 PDL season is just one week away. On May 12th, Peachtree City MOBA will open regular season play at home against in-state rivals South Georgia Tormenta FC in their final season in the PDL before entering the professional ranks as a founding member of the USL Division III. There are a lot of questions about this Peachtree City club heading into opening day, the greatest of which: Can they win?

A team that's been riddled with inconsistency on both the defensive and offensive fronts, the club has gone just 5-19-4 over their first two seasons. Seeing three head coaches in those two years, the reasons are clear for their lack of consistent success, but 2018 has the potential to change that pattern. Entering year three, it will be former professional and Palestinian International Omar Jarun taking the helm of the franchise, and he has brought with him retired Jamaican International Nicholas Addlery to be his assistant, as well as former Atlanta Silverbacks goalkeeper Felipe Quintero who will be the goalkeepers coach. With Jarun's defensive expertise, he is the perfect man to come in and establish an identity on the back line, as his knowledge of the position will do wonders for the club. Addlery, on the other hand, is a born scorer. He scored 78 goals with eight different clubs in his eleven year professional career, and talent like that is sure to wear off on the squad of forwards and attacking midfielders that will be settling in Peachtree City for the summer.

Not only does 2018 appear to be the most stable in the club's brief history, but it also offers up an opportunity to start fresh, as they enter a new division in a new conference. As part of the league-wide conference restructuring, Peachtree City, as well as many of their former South Atlantic foes, join Mississippi Brilla FC and two expansion clubs in forming the Deep South Division in the Southern Conference. This realignment allows Peachtree City to focus on both new and familiar foes across the Southeast in cities like Statesboro, Birmingham, and Memphis, which could play a major role in the club's success going forward.

In terms of the club itself, 2018 has brought in a wealth of new faces to the suburbs, and with that comes a lot of talent. The 2018 roster is made up of players from across the country, all with a unique set of skills and experience that will lead the team in their quest for a playoff berth. The likes of Clayton State's Dean Foster and George Mason's Tolunimi Ibikunle will lead the charge up front, with Reinhardt's Gus Fidler, Jacksonville's Kai Bennett, and Memphis' Chris Mikus and Luke Biasi fighting through the middle. The back line will contain players including West Florida's Jerry Wiltshire, Boston's Joshua Barkoff, Memphis' Artur Luca, and Dalton State's Tyler Hudson, backed up by Northern Illinois' Konrad Dziedzic in goal. The roster is sure to offer a lot of talented depth for Omar Jarun who has the tough job of creating an eighteen for each match.

Expectations are high, and the sky is the limit for this year's Peachtree City team, and we can only speculate on how things will turn out until we really see the product on the pitch. Regardless, there is a lot to get excited about with this team, and the future looks extremely bright. All that remains is to let Jarun work his magic, and there is great potential that MOBA Soccer Academy could be the home of one of the best club's in the Premier Development League.

#MOBAProud

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