Can the essence of world-class soccer be bottled up, repackaged and presented as such on the college level? Probably not.
But Harvard's men's soccer team did just get back from an 11-day voyage to Germany, and you know what? Hanging out with Thomas Dooley and Claudio Reyna, and having your picture taken with Andy Brehme and Rudi Voeller is, as Alexi Lalas might say, pretty bitchin,' dudc.
"The total soccer experience," senior captain Pepper Brill calls the trip, which had the Crimson scrimmaging against some of Germany's fourth and fifth division professional teams, as well as watching some of the aforementioned U.S. and German internationals train and play.
"We stood in the standing room only section of a game between Borussia Dortmund and Kaiserslautern," Brill says, "and to hear the crowds sing and chant, to get thrown all over the place when a goal was scored...it was so exciting."
"It was a great trip," says third-year Head Coach Stephen Locker. "As a bonding experience, to be exposed to that level of soccer and to see the intensity with which those guys train, that means a lot."
Locker's immediate concern is to find a way to make that feeling carry over to Harvard's opening game against Cornell on Saturday (1:00 p.m., Ohiri Field). Slow starts have been the Crimson's worst enemy in his first two years behind the bench, and the pressure to win a "should-win" game in Cambridge to start the year is evident.
"There are no easy games on our schedule this year," Locker says, a trip to Clemson standing out as the tallest hurdle. "A lot depends on our start; right now it's just a matter of waiting until we see how good we are."
On paper, the talent to contend with the likes of Brown and Dartmouth in the Ivies is there. Losses to graduation were minimal; a solid recruiting class gives Harvard depth at all positions. "Every game, it's really just a matter of tossing dice to choose the starting lineup," Locker says.
The depth starts in goal; although Locker hasn't really publicized the fact, sophomore Peter Albers should share time in the nets this year with incumbent junior Ned Carlson.
Interesting fact: aside from these two goalies, nobody on Harvard's roster exceeds 6'2" or 180 pounds--a fact which dictates Locker's overall strategy. Look for a short-passing, Latin-style attack with no target men at center forward in his 4-4-2 formation.
"We've got guys like [sophomores] Will Kohler and Kevin Silva up front that you could compare to Romario and Bebeto in terms of style," Locker says of his strike force. "We won't be attacking through the air as much as on the ground."
With such young attacking talent ready to blossom (include fellow sophomore David Bonita in that picture), scoring goals won't be as much of a problem as will keeping Albers and Carlson relatively unoccupied. "We have to have a tougher defense this year--we simply gave up too many goals last season," Locker says.
That task falls to the guiding hands of Brill and new assistant coach Ron Murphy, brought in specifically for his defensive expertise. Molding the talents of sophomore stoppers Tariq Jawad and John Vrionus, and senior outside backs Tom Marcotullio and Derek Swaim is of paramount importance in producing the quick start Locker envisions.
Add the midfield strengths of senior Bo Bernhard, junior Chris Wojick, sophomore T.J. Corella and multi-faceted freshman Tom McLaughlin to the mix, and all the elements of a darkhorse Ivy League contender are there. With an entirely new assistant coaching staff (Gary Crompton guiding the attackers as Murphy teaches the defenders), Locker says that team chemistry is good, perhaps well-removed from whatever demons of early-season befuddlement remain from his first two years.
But Brill captures the essence of this season most succinctly.
"We need a win against Cornell to start," he says. "There's some pressure there, but we all know what we have to do."
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