This year we are working more on the concept of team play and less on individual skills," Baum said.

In this regard, Scalise is using last year as a stepping stone to raise the level of the Crimson's play this season.

"Players learn the fundamentals through experience, and then you continue to build," Scalise said.

Since women are starting to play soccer at earlier ages now, they have the opportunity to learn the fundamentals when they are younger.

Little by little, collegiate women's soccer is expanding to meet the boom; and this year, for the first time, there will be a New England tournament to be held at Brown. (The Ivies will be at Harvard.)

While Scalise's training schedule would turn the average person away from sports for the rest of his life, the Booters are actually enjoying practice and getting excited about the upcoming season.

"The psyche of the team is really good," Scalise said. "As far as teams go, this is an unusually hard-working group of people."

And as far as teams go, this team certainly will go far.