Sports
Men’s soccer seeks to replace veteran leaders
By Kaitlin McCabe ’16
September 10, 2015
Last season, the Hamilton men’s soccer team carried a steady 5-3-1 overall record after defeating Ithaca College in a non-conference game on Oct. 7. This pattern of success, however, was short-lived: The team struggled to put a ball in the goal, ending the season with four straight scoreless games.
But in addition to kissing its achievements goodbye, the Continentals lost several key players, such as Dan Kraynak ’15 and Jacob Frost ’15. Kraynak led the team with six goals last fall, and Frost made the NESCAC all-conference team as a center midfielder.
Following a tough end to the season, the players and head coach Perry Nizzi are painstakingly trying to figure out how to rebuild the program.
“You don’t replace three outstanding starting seniors,” Nizzi explained. “You can’t replace LeBron James. We’ve got our work cut out for us.”
Much hope for the coming season lies upon six returning starters: Zack Becker ’16, Erich Marcks ’16, Harris Pollack ’17, Alec Talsania ’17 and Nick Tselios ’17.
Becker, the only returning starter to defense, along with Marcks and Talsania, the leading returners on offense, are this year’s team captains.
The men all boast accomplishments from last season: Becker assisted a defensive squad that let in only just 15 goals in 16 games, and Marcks and Talsania are the leading returners on offense with two goals and three assists. Talsania is just the second non-senior to serve as a captain in Nizzi’s 18 years at Hamilton. Pollack, who started 14 of 15 games in goal and posted four shutouts, finished the season ranked third in the NESCAC with 4.07 saves per game. Tselios started the remaining game in goal and served as the backup for Pollack.
Various other players will continue to contribute to this year’s squad. Bayard Geeslin ’16 tied for the team lead with three assists, and Andrew Martin ’16—who is currently recovering from a knee injury—and Jack Temko ’18 added one goal apiece last year. Johnny McGuinnis ’16 returns after being on the bench last season with an injured hamstring.
The obvious and often-discussed weakness of this year’s defense compared to that of previous seasons has certainly made the team nervous, “We need to work extremely hard defensively to compensate for the lack of experience in the back,” said Talsania.
Nevertheless, the team maintains confidence in its potential for growth.
“We lost three of four starters on defense from last season but have a strong core of defensive players that were able to learn a lot from the seniors last year,” Becker said. He noted the team’s efforts to compensate for its losses, adding, “We’ve been working on our organization and communication throughout the preseason and have begun to develop a strong back line like we have in years past.”
Talsania expanded upon the team’s upcoming strategy. “The new back line is going to be more technical so hopefully we will work with this and be able to work with this by possessing the ball more out of the back to move it up the field this year. We will also have to rely heavily on our threatening offense to score goals which makes the defenses job much easier.”
Spectators have a season of surprises ahead, as the starting lineup is now just a very rough draft. Though the initial starting lineups are typically constant throughout the season, Nizzi explained that he will continue to try combinations of players until he finds the best dynamic for the team.
This “defense problem” is self-effacing in NESCAC competition, but it has positively spurred players into real action. According to Nizzi, “The number of open positions is generating tremendous competition and work ethic.
With the large amount of openings and opportunity for playing time, there is a real driving motivator. It’s a mental thing: When you know you’ve got a shot you work harder.”
Going into the conference games, the Continentals’ greatest enemy seems not to be opposing teams but its own injuries. Already, four possible starters are hurt, and the first NESCAC face-off is Saturday.
“We are hoping to rebuild out momentum back into the NESCAC playoffs by staying healthy,” Nizzi emphasized. “We are hoping to stay away from the injury bug that has hit us the last three years to key players.”
The Continentals play seven games at home on Love Field this season, including the 2015 opener against SUNY Oswego yesterday, on Sept. 9. The team begins NESCAC play with a home game against Bates College on Sept. 12. Other conference games at home include: Wesleyan University and Tufts University during Fallcoming on Oct. 3 and 4, Amherst College on Oct. 10 and Colby College for the season close on Oct. 24 during Family Weekend.
“There is not an easy game in the NESCAC,” Nizzi said when asked about his thoughts for the upcoming Bates match. “Tufts lost its first game in [last year’s] playoffs and won a national championship. You never walk into a game feeling confident.”
“Bates is a dangerous team—they ended on a strong run last year.” Specifically, the Bobcats finished with a 4-9-2 record and just won a non-conference game 2-0. Nizzi continued, “We are concerned about that momentum going forward into this year. It’s going to be a tough game.”
Regardless, the men are looking forward to redeeming their reputation at home.
“We anticipate a great game and we cannot wait to score some goals in front of a large home crowd,” Talsania said.
The Continentals are embarking on a building season—a series of games that pit both young and experienced athletes against established lineups. Though there are certainly mixed emotions heading onto the field, one thing is more clear: The team will take risks and test new strategies because, in truth, they do not have much to lose.
Coach Nizzi laughed, but hope glistened in his eyes as he said, “We’re hoping we will be sitting here with our cake and eating it, too.”