Last season marked the first time since 2002 that the Binghamton University men’s soccer team failed to reach the America East championship game. The team was left with a sour taste in their mouths after falling to University of Maryland, Baltimore County 2-1 in the quarterfinals, just a week after defeating the Retrievers 4-0.
The Bearcats have redemption on their minds as they prepare for the 2010 campaign. The squad will be a relatively young one. Therefore it is particularly crucial that the veteran players lead by example and set the tone for the younger players. They have done just that in preseason training, according to head coach Paul Marco.
‘Perhaps an area that I think we have a pretty good grasp on is the leadership group has been quite good,’ Marco said. ‘Our upperclassmen have certainly shown the way to do things, how to go about business, they have led in fitness testing and they have led on the field. So it’s been outstanding from that point of view.’
The loss of four valuable seniors from last year’s squad ‘ Liam Carson, Kyle Kucharski, Jason Stenta and Chris Terry ‘ leaves a significant void on the field and in the leadership department. However, the student-athletes leading the charge this year all had a major impact on last year’s team. They will have to be exceptional on the pitch once again if the Bearcats want to achieve their goal of qualifying for the NCAA tournament.
‘We’ve returned some really great players,’ Marco said. ‘We’ve returned some All-Conference players ‘ Kyle Manscuk, Ryan Walter, Scott Zobre and Jake Keegan. All look in great form and ready for the year.’
The Bearcats were chosen to finish in fifth place in the preseason coaches’ poll. Boston University came in first totaling 44 points, edging out Stony Brook University, the defending champions, by just one point. Marco and his players aren’t putting much stock into the poll, though.
‘Predictions are just that,’ Marco said. ‘I didn’t get to vote for my own team; I would have voted us first [place]. I think our expectation usually doesn’t change. Maybe the difference this year is we are quite young.’
Walter, who wreaked havoc on the opposition in the midfield last season, feels their position in the poll is not indicative of how they will finish the season.
‘Definitely too low,’ he said. ‘Our goal is definitely to finish No. 1 in the regular season and win the [America East] tournament as well. That’s our ultimate goal, to make it to the NCAA [tournament]. We don’t set our sights any lower than that.’
Zobre, whose eight points were third-best on the team last season, took a slightly different approach to the subject.
‘I wouldn’t say underrated, I would say unknown,’ he said. ‘We [have] a bunch of new faces, and we’ll just prove out on the field what we are.’
The departure of Stenta is arguably the one that affects this year’s team the most. He held down the fort between the pipes for the last four seasons, and was among the national leaders in goals against average each season. He was also a constant voice in the ears of the back liners, helping his defense with positioning.
‘It’s been a blessing to have a player like [Stenta] to play for so many games, and it’s a position that you usually don’t make many changes in,’ Marco said. ‘A striker you may take off every game and give someone else a run for 10, 15 or 20 minutes, but in the goal usually once you have your guy and he’s established himself, that’s who it is. Having Jason for five years and playing for four was great, and I think we might get that out of one or two of [our current goalkeepers] as well.’
Stenta’s replacement, not yet officially named, will have lofty expectations throughout the season.
‘There [are] three goalkeepers on the team,’ Marco said. ‘I think all three are fighting for [the starting position]. Chris Hayen certainly looks to have a little edge right now.’
There are two new faces flanking Marco as assistant coaches this season ‘ Joe Dorini has been coaching for over a decade, both collegiately and at the club level, and Matt Narode is a former player of Marco’s who graduated from Binghamton in 2008. Thus far, the players have responded well to what the new coaches have brought to the table.
‘Joe and Matt have done an outstanding job,’ Marco said. ‘They’ve had some shoes to fill, but they’ve walked right in, the shoes fit and they’re doing a great job.’
The players have been wearing T-shirts with ‘BASICS’ written across the chest during training. The word is not just an emphasis on fundamentals, but it is also an acronym, according to Zobre.
‘[It is] a little motto that our coach came up with,’ he said. ‘Each letter stands for something; I don’t want to give any secrets away, so I’m going to keep that for the imagination.’
The exact meaning of the phrase may be unknown, but one can infer that it is a means of motivation and team unity, a unity that will be pivotal as the team takes the field for the first time this weekend. The Bearcats are scheduled to begin their season at the West Virginia Tournament on Friday at 5 p.m. against University of North Carolina-Wilmington. They are also set to face Monmouth University on Sunday at 12:30 p.m.