It sounds a lot like a coach's dream.

To be exact, it sounds like a very pleasant dream for men's soccer coach George Ford. Only he's not dreaming.

His current squad lost just two regulars from last year's 10-4-1 team, leaving a deep corps of seasoned, talented veterans ready to pick up where it left off.

Back intact is an impressively stingy defensive unit, paced by goaltenders Ben Erulkar and Peter Walsh, who split the net chores about evenly last year, with about equal effectiveness.

Back also is most of the Crimson's multitalented midfield--with the notable exception of Michael Smith, who earned All-Ivy honors last season and is currently with the Denver franchise of the Major Indoor Soccer League.

Rounding out the returnees from last year's side is a group of forwards--led by first-team All-Ivy wing Mauro Keller-Sarmiento and striker Lance Ayrault--that proved surprisingly explosive for much of the 1980 campaign

And that's not all. Rejoining the team are Mike Mogollon and Alberto Villar, two skilled forwards who played in 1979 but missed last season for personal reasons. Their return should allow Ford to pack more firepower up front, providing a scoring punch that, although usually effective, was lacking last year.

The abundance of talent on the front line means the Crimson will open the season against MIT with an experimental collapsing 4-2-4 alignment. Under this setup, Keller-Sarmiento, Mogollon, Ayrault and Villar will range the offensive zone, back up by starting midfielders Leo Lanzillo and Frank RiCapito.

Keller-Sarmiento and Villar, both quick and good with the ball, will cruise the wings, falling back to midfield slots when the Crimson is on defense. This collapses the 4-2-4. Both players should be comfortable in this transition role.

Keller-Sarmiento--in spite of a declining point total from 1979 (two goals, six assists for eight points)--spurred the offense last year, freeing the area in front of the nets by frequently drawing two or even three defenders to himself as he streaked down the side of the field. Ayrault was the usual beneficiary of these moves and responded by dumping a team-high 12 goals into the net. With Villar complementing Keller-Sarmiento on the left wing, Ayrault and Mogollon should get plenty of chances this year.

"Villar is one of the few natural left-wingers you're likely to find in this league," Ford said recently. "He has exceptional ball skills, and is especially effective in what we call one versus one situations. He is capable of taking the ball from the midline to the goal-line and putting it across."

Although Ford will go with the 4-2-4 as long as possible, and even hopes to allow the wings to stay up front full-time, a less fluid 4-3-3 is always available. In this case, Keller-Sarmiento will switch to the center-halfback position, maintaining the offensive threat but providing an additional measure of control at midfield.

Depending on the situation, Ford may use several players in relatively uncustomary positions. For instance, in physical contests--against teams like Boston University, Princeton or Dartmouth--the Crimson mentor may pull Villar or Keller-Sarmiento in favor of more assertive forwards.

One move would be Lanzillo to a striker slot, and Ford will use reserves extensively in this and other situations. "In physical games, we wouldn't want to sacrifice good ballplayers who aren't aggressive as such," Ford said. So spectators will see the likes of Leighton Welch in place of Villar or RiCapito. An often beserk Richard Berkman can get physical as well and will see lots of action, as will midfielder John Lyons.

Lyons, in fact, may well get the nod at center-half when Ford goes to the 4-3-3. "Without Michael Smith, we need someone with a kamikaze instinct," Ford said. "Lyons may be it."