WORTHINGTON — The Minnesota West men’s soccer team is looking to build off its prior season's success. The Bluejays saw a major leap in their program under head coach Jordan Balster, thanks in part to the influx of international talent from Germany and Columbia, which balanced out a roster of talented area kids. That roster culminated in a conference championship.
This season, Balster and the Bluejays are hoping to add to the formula with returning area talent in Eli Robinson, Prince Lebbi, Kaleb Lee, Adrian Sanchez and Leon Togba. ADVERTISEMENT Robinson, the goalkeeper, will be working with a new center back tandem in South Korean Joenghyeon Han and German Robin Braun. Braun, a native of Stuttgart, has been named a team captain and came back to the US in pursuit of playing collegiate soccer.
Braun had previously been in Minnesota as an exchange student in Owatonna. Braun described himself as a student of the game. Back in Stuttgart he began playing soccer at five years old and he owns season tickets to VFB Stuttgart, who finished second in the table in last year’s Bundesliga standings.
He also has two years of university completed while in Germany, with his emphasis in study being sports management. But he also sees room for growth. Despite only being here for two weeks, Braun and Han have already developed a strong connection and Braun said that he sees ability in his teammates that he has never seen before.
“Everybody brings something new. For example, we have one .