In one calendar year, the Massachusetts men’s soccer team has lost three giants in program history.

Longtime head coach Sam Koch died after a battle with cancer prior to the 2014-15 campaign, and at the end of the season, four-year starters Matt Keys and Josh Schwartz left the team after forging distinguished careers in Amherst.

Losing Keys or Schwartz would present any team with issues the following season, but the loss of both at the same time presents the Minutemen, who finished 3-14-1 (2-5-1 Atlantic 10) in 2014, with a challenge as great as the players they are tasked with replacing.

In doing so, UMass will look for senior captain Will Ellis and new coach Fran O’Leary to lead the charge.

O’Leary – a veteran coach with both college and professional experience – takes the helm for the Minutemen after spending two years with FC Toronto of Major League Soccer.

Prior to his stint in the MLS, O’Leary was the head coach of the men’s program at Division III Bowdoin College, where he enjoyed great success. His teams went 74-39-14 in eight seasons, highlighted by NCAA tournament appearances in 2009 and 2010 (the latter included a run to the Division III Final Four). In total, O’Leary has 24 seasons of head coaching experience at the college level.

“He’s been around the block a few times,” Ellis said. “He has a lot of experience with professional teams and college teams.

“I’m very optimistic … that he’s going to turn this program around.”

After a full preseason with the team, O’Leary said he’s been satisfied with the energy and determination his side has shown.

“I’ve been very pleased with the attitude and the application of the team,” O’Leary said. “The cause for optimism (for the upcoming season) is the attitude of the players. They’ve come in and displayed a terrific appetite to get better. They’re very coachable.”

Ellis is someone O’Leary particularly said would solidify the midfield for UMass. The senior was also optimistic about the upcoming season and was quick to point out and take issue with the team’s ranking in the official A-10 preseason poll.

“The preseason poll says we’re going to be 12th out of 13th in the conference … I don’t think we’re going to do that poorly. I think we’re going to surprise a lot of people this year,” he said.

Ellis went on to say the poll results are something the entire team is aware of and will use as motivation.

“We’ve talked about it. We don’t believe that’s the way it should be,” Ellis said. “I think a lot of teams are going to come out and think they aren’t in for a game, and we’re going to come out and surprise a lot of guys.”

To do so, the Minutemen have several key areas they will need to address, starting with the departures of Keys and Schwartz. Ellis said it would be up to the entire team to fill the void left by the pair of longtime starters.

“They’re guys you can’t really replace,” Ellis said. “We all have to come together to win games. In the past, we’ve looked to Schwartz to score a goal and then Keys to keep them out. Now, we all have to do it together.”

Up front, O’Leary mentioned senior Mark Morris and sophomore Alex DeSantis as forwards that would be counted on to help replace Schwartz’s point production.

On the backline, junior Matt Pease returns after starting 31 of 34 games in his first two seasons with UMass, and should be a steadying presence on defense. O’Leary also mentioned sophomore Zach Samson as a player that has impressed in the preseason and someone who figures to be a part of the defensive rotation.

Another area of uncertainty for the Minutemen is in goal, where Jorge Becerra and Bardia Asefnia are competing to lock down the starting job.

UMass opened the season against Utah Valley in Amherst on August 28 with a 1-0 overtime defeat.  The Minutemen followed with a three-game winless road trip.

UMass next plays Thursday at Albany before returning home for two straight games. The Great Danes are 2-1-0 to start the season.

The start of A-10 play begins at St. Josephs on Oct. 3. O’Leary, coming from a background of college coaching, knows the value of conference games and spoke about building up the team toward the start of its A-10 schedule.

“We’re still trying to gather what would be our best starting group. Early games in the season, we’ll get weaknesses exposed and we’ll work on correcting them,” O’Leary said. “The thought is, come A-10 conference time, we’ll be a hardened team, a competitive team and we can go in and compete in the A-10.”

Ross Gienieczko can be reached at [email protected] and followed on Twitter @RossGien.