September 26, 2014
Last season, the men’s soccer team made significant strides in NESCAC competition by reaching their first postseason. Establishing a foothold within one of Division III’s toughest conferences was undeniably a positive step, but based on this year’s early results, the Continentals look like dangerous conference sleepers, poised to surpass last year’s first-round playoff exit.
Thus far, Hamilton has a record of 4-1-1, including 2-1 in conference play. Over the past two weeks, the Continentals have defeated non-conference foes SUNY Polytechnic (4-1) and Utica (2-1), while splitting NESCAC games against Bates (2-0 win) and Connecticut College (0-1 loss).
Their four-game unbeaten streak was the program’s best start to the year since 2008. Not coincidentally, the Continentals are among the most experienced teams in the conference, with nine seniors headlined by Dan Kraynak, Buck Reynolds and Griffin Abbott. Kraynak believes the team’s experience should result in steadier season-long form, noting that, “The experience we have on the team is going to be very important this year. More so than having a strong start, having a lot of older guys helps you manage the season and stay together, even when you face difficult situations against good teams.”
Indeed, past Hamilton squads have boasted similar levels of talent, only to see late-game breakdowns and inconsistencies mar the final results. In the Bates victory, for instance, the Continentals dominated play throughout the first half, only to see the Bobcats hold steady for a scoreless draw at halftime. Rather than allowing an inferior opponent to rattle them, however, Hamilton sustained its control of possession and buried two second-half goals to earn the win.
But while the seniors have largely anchored the lineup, a pair of underclassmen have emerged as indispensable cogs this fall. Midfielder Alec Talsania ’17 has compiled seven total points with three assists and two goals, second on the team to Kraynak, while Harris Pollack ’17 has posted a pair of shutouts en route to allowing just three goals in his first season as a fulltime starter.
Talsania played a complementary bench role last season, but has seen his production explode this year as a featured centerpiece within the offense. “It’s been a ton of fun to play attacking [midfielder],” said Talsania. “I’m getting more used to the role with every game. Figuring out the central midfield has been a large part of our training. When we click in games we can see the attack build and the increase in opportunities for goals, so in that aspect it has increased the responsibilities.”
Meanwhile, Pollack has conceded just three goals through the first seven games. Ironically, his best game came in the Conn College loss, as he made a season-high five saves, highlighted by a diving penalty shot stop.
Nonetheless, Pollack is not simply cruising off his strong start. “Each week I have to prove myself and fight for the starting goalkeeper position,” he asserted. “The team has four goalkeepers all with great strengths and all capable of fantastic saves. We all push each other each day to play better than we did the day before.”
The sophomore goalie also noted that, “one of the team’s best qualities is [their] depth,” highlighting what has been a healthy campaign following the Continentals’ recent injury-plagued seasons. Though a few players may have been overmatched in emergency duty last year, the experience has undeniably created a deeper 2014 roster, allowing Head Coach Perry Nizzi to employ a liberal substitution pattern to keep his starters fresh.
The team’s depth will be critical as the Continentals head into the teeth of their schedule, with seven of their final nine games against other NESCAC teams. On the upcoming schedule, Talsania explained, “One weekend we have circled especially is alumni weekend, when we have a home doubleheader against Bowdoin and Middlebury. We went on the road last year and came home with no points. This year, we want to get some points at home from those games especially.”
The schedule will get tougher, as Hamilton’s next two games are road contests: Wesleyan on Sept. 27 and Amherst on Oct. 4, two teams that have combined for one loss thus far. Those games will provide telling midseason barometers of how far Hamilton has truly risen in the NESCAC, but based on the program’s trajectory, there are progressively fewer reasons for skepticism.
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