TribLIVE | Chartiers Valley grad Sean Tinney rebounds from injury, eager to get back to soccer at Slippery Rock

After a solid freshman season with the Slippery Rock men’s soccer team, Chartiers Valley grad Sean Tinney was prepared to take the next step. Then, he got a double dose of the unexpected.

First came a coaching change. Kevin Wilhelm stepped in as interim coach after previous coach Steve Small, who recruited Tinney, stepped down less than two months before the start of the 2018 season.

Tinney barely had time to get accustomed to Wilhelm when his season ended in the second match because of an injury. Against Lake Erie, while sliding to make a tackle, he suffered a slight tear in his right MCL and a femoral bone bruise.

So as the 2019 season nears, Tinney has hit the reset button.

“I’ve never had an injury like that before where I’ve had to sit out for an extended period of time,” he said.

There were two pieces of good news regarding the injury: No surgery was required, and Tinney was able to take a medical redshirt. He will open 2019 season with three years of soccer eligibility remaining.

Tinney was able to correct the MCL tear through rehab. He was allowed to do all of the required offseason weight training, but it would be nearly three months before he could resume soccer activities.

By winter break, he said, he was back to 100% and was a full participant in the team’s recent spring workouts. Wilhelm is looking forward to having Tinney on the field for an entire season. Though he got to see very little of him last season, Wilhelm said Tinney impressed him with a strong spring.

“This spring, I don’t know how many goals he scored, but he showed very well,” said Wilhelm, who had his interim tag removed in December. “Even on the defensive side of the ball, his game is quite strong.

“He’s got some very good athletic ability. For his size (5-foot-7, 155 pounds) he is very strong, and his aggressiveness is pretty good.”

Wilhelm is asking Tinney to tone down some of that aggressiveness, specifically on his shot. Content to try to blast the ball past opposing keepers, Tinney has been working on trying to score using finesse, angles and placement.

By doing that, Wilhelm said, Tinney should be able to see a dramatic increase in his goal-scoring. As a freshman, he had one goal to go with four assists.

“Not everything has to be 100 mph,” Tinney said. “And not just with finishing. On the ball, in front of the goal, just making the right decisions.”

With this new lease on his soccer life has come a new position. Rather than his customary spot on the wing, Tinney will attack from the center midfield, which will require more movement and defensive responsibility.

Wilhelm said he believes it is a switch Tinney can handle.

“I would think he has a very good chance of earning a starting spot,” Wilhelm said. “The good thing about him is he is pretty versatile. He has set himself up well to be in the discussion.”

The Rock, meanwhile, hopes to set itself up for a spot in the PSAC Tournament, where it hasn’t been since winning the conference title in 2015. SRU went 4-6-1 in the conference in 2018, narrowly missing a spot in the postseason.

Tinney said he and the other players are comfortable in Wihelm’s system. Now it is a matter of taking what they have learned in the offseason and applying it to gamedays.

“We have a young team, and I think everyone is eager to take that step,” he said. “(Wilhelm) has us on the same page, so it’s just a matter of taking that next step and going forward.”