Despite the fact that the men’s soccer team has only played a handful of games this season, they already have a better record than last year’s team, which limped on to a one-win season following the ineligibility ruling of Alex Sala.Sala was ruled ineligible to play last year due to insufficient credits. Originally from Weiler, Austria, the sophomore midfielder’s woes stemmed from two years of experience because he played for FC Dornbirn while still overseas. The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) ruled that this experience was comparable to a year of collegiate-level soccer and ruled him a sophomore.Meanwhile, Sala, who did not attend a college while in Austria, did not have any of the 24 required credits to be a sophomore participating in sports, and was forced to watch the season from the sidelines.“There’s nothing you can do,” Director of Athletic Communications Kevin Taylor said. “It just comes up in recruitment.”This came as a surprise to everyone involved, including Sala, who had not expected any problems when signing up to play. Disappointed by the ruling at the time, a year later Sala can find positives in taking the year off and is ready to play.“I learned a lot [during the year]. I saw how we played as a team and how some other teams played,” Sala said.Sala still was a useful asset to the team last year, mainly because he helped play a role in the recruitment of friend and fellow Austrian midfielder Manuel Schneckenreither, often referred to as “Schnecky.” With both players available, the team automatically has one of the better midfields in the history of the program as well as in the American Mideast Conference.“Schnecky said he wanted to go to the States a few years ago, but he wasn’t sure. Last summer he said he decided to go […] he called me, I told him I’m enjoying it here and he thought about it,” Sala said.Schnecky’s recruitment was proof that fourth-year head coach Jeroen Walstra was not going to let last year’s misfortunes jeopardize the team’s chances for a playoff run.“Coach Walstra is from the Netherlands, and he’s a firm believer in overseas recruitment,” Taylor said.Walstra later elaborated on his recruitment policies.“I hope we get some more European players. But they have to be good. I don’t want someone just because they are European. If an American and European player are the same, I’ll probably pick the American because they are cheaper and they can get grants,” Walstra said. “But foreign players are good for the school too because they give students who can’t travel exposure to other cultures.”The two players have had no problem gelling with the rest of the team, mainly due to the fact that seven of the team’s 23 players were born outside the United States. This melting pot of a team jumped out of the gates with two dominating wins over Franciscan University and Thiel College. However, these wins were non-conference games and were intended to be easy and do not necessarily display the team’s talent level.“These were supposed to be easier,” Sala said. “The conference games will be hard…but we have playoff potential.”Assuming Point Park’s men’s soccer team stays relatively healthy and new players like Sala and Schnecky play to their potential, a playoff run is definitely a possibility.