Suggestions were also made on the physical layout of the field, which is 68 yds. wide (15 1/2 yds. wider than a football field and 3 yds. above the minimum requirements for soccer) and 116 yds, long (only 4 yds. below the maximum soccer standard). It seems that an artificial playing field has roughly the topography of a turtle back to promote drainage. With the practice game layout, goalies found themselves running uphill at a steep angle.
With this in mind an adjustment was made to flatten the playing area. Now the 10 yard line in football serves as the 18 yard line in soccer, the soccer goaline is two yards in from the end on the end-zone, and the goalie is happily placed back on a level surface.
Howard, Harvard's semi-final opponent on the 28th in Miami, is an exceptional team composed completely of freshmen and sophomores, all of whom are from outside the U.S. Last year, Howard played in the national semi-finals against UCLA. Leading the Bruins, 3-2. with 15 minutes to go, the Bisons wilted under pressure and dropped a 4-3 decision.
In the Bison's soccer publicity pamphlet this year, coach Lincoln Phillips, former coach and goalie for the now defunct Washington Darts pro team, was so upset by the loss that he returned to his native Trinidad and personally handpicked 12 freshmen recruits.
The results so far this season have been devastating. At the start of the campaign, the squad was "just learning to work together," Phillips said, and narrowly squeaked by Akron and Newark Engineering by identical 2-1 scores. "They're playing a lot better now and scoring a lot more goals," Phillips said.
Smashing the Lions
In its last tournament match for the southern crown on December 4, Howard completely smashed Penn State, a team which had upended Penn, 2-1, the previous Tuesday by holding the Lions to no goals on only five shots, while riddling State's nets with eight scores.
The Bison's top players are All-Americans Keith Hequi and Alvin Henderson, both from Trinidad. Freshman Ian Bain, also from Trinidad and Guinea's Mori Biane round out Howard's forward wall. Strong goalkeeping has been provided this season by Samuel Tetteh from Ghana.
Commenting on his squad's background, Phillips said. "Howard has the highest number of foreign students in America and a lot of people come here just 'cause they know of it. In Trinidad and the West Indies, the only school they've heard of is Howard."
Buying Players?
Penn State coach Herb Schmidt was more critical of the Bison's recruiting technique. "They flat went out and bought all those ball players, there's no question about it," he said. "In general, they're the toughest physical group of foreigners I've ever seen. They attack you and if they don't get the ball, they get you."
Howard is physically a big team, with its two middle men both 6ft. 4in. They usually play in a 4-2-4 formation and on defense go man-to-man, while employing a sweeper back. The Bisons have a powerful attack which moves the ball strictly on the ground and usually up the middle. They can go up the wings but unlike a normal offense the wings never cross.
On defense, Howard's height gives it a tremendous ability to clear head balls. The Bisons, who emphasize defense above all in their play, stack the middle on defense and are an extremely sure tackling team.
"When we played them, our goaltender went out to make a save. As he covered the ball, one of their guys flew by him, kicking him in the anus as hard as he could," Penn State's Schmidt said. "He was on the ground paralyzed for five minutes. I mean he couldn't move."
Fortunately, this type of strategy may be playing right into the Crimson's hand, as Harvard is extremely strong in the middle on defense and likes to take the ball up the wings, frequently crossing the ball from side to side.
"If there are no changes, it looks like it will be our strong points against their weaknesses," Munro explained. "This will put Felix (Adedeji) against their weakest fullback."