With 17 underclassmen on a roster of 28, the men's soccer team knew it would be young and inexperienced coming into the 2009 season. But the past four years have been among the most successful in the team's history, and the team's returning players are used to experiencing success.
Brown soccer fans will see a number of new faces on the field this year. Many sophomores gained valuable experience as the Bears battled through injuries last season, turning to freshmen to make an immediate impact.
The same goes for the current freshman class, which already put together a solid performance on both the offensive and defensive sides of the ball in the team's opening 1-1 double-overtime tie against Lehigh on Sunday.
"They've incorporated themselves into the system here at Brown," said Head Coach Mike Noonan. "They complement the team very well, and we expect them to continue to make a strong contribution throughout the season."
Dylan Remick '13 and Ryan McDuff '13 have helped fill the hole in the defense left by the departures of Rhett Bernstein '09 and Stephen Sawyer '09. Starting defender Ian Smith '11 is also out for the next several weeks with a broken foot, but he has high hopes for the defense.
"We have a talented freshman class and everyone is feeding off of their energy," Smith said. "The new defenders are going to have a huge presence on the team and will have to be at the top of their game in order for us to win close games."
Evan Coleman '12 and Sean McGrath '11 will also add depth to a defense that will need to step up in the absence of key players.
Co-captain David Walls '11 remains as the most seasoned defender on the back line. Walls played the most minutes on the team last year and has started all but one game in his collegiate career.
The Bears lost forwards Dylan Sheehan '09 and Darren Howerton '09 to graduation, but they return Jon Okafor '11 and TJ Thompson '10 up front. Sophomores Sean Rosa and Austin Mandel will also look to contribute on the offensive side of the ball.
Co-captain Thomas Thunell '10 will anchor the midfield along with 2008 All-Ivy selection Nick Elenz-Martin '10. Rob Medairos '12 and Taylor Gorman '12 will benefit from the playing time they earned last season as they look to make a contribution to the team.
In goal, the Bears lost Jarrett Leech '09, whose 0.87 goals against average was near the top of the Ivy League. This year, Paul Grandstrand '11, Jarod Schlenker '10 and Sam Kernan-Schloss '13 are all capable of stepping into the goal and finding success, according to Smith.
The biggest contribution of the underclassmen is overall depth and competitiveness. Over the summer, Noonan set the bar high for the team's physical fitness. Every freshman came to Brown in top shape and passed the preseason fitness test, one of the first times they have all passed, according to Smith.
In the Lehigh game, Smith said the team passed the ball with precision and was creating a lot of scoring opportunities that did not come as easily last season.
"We're running a faster paced offense with more combination play," Smith said. "We're clicking on all cylinders right now, but we need to add the finishing aspect in order to do well this year."
The Bears outshot the Mountain Hawks 27-8 in the game, but only converted on one of the opportunities, when Okafor scored off of a pass from Rosa with under two minutes remaining in regulation. Lehigh goalkeeper Jonathan Nydell recorded nine saves in 110 minutes of play, which Smith called the "game of his life." Noonan also commended Lehigh's superb defense.
"It was a game where we would have liked to score on our chances, but it came down to the goalkeeper and the defense more so than us converting," Noonan said. "We played well, but the defense was good."
The Bears open up the Adidas-Brown Classic on Friday at Stevenson Field against Southern Methodist at 7:30 p.m. They close the Classic with a 2:30 p.m. match against Adelphi on Sunday.
"We picked up a lot of things from the Lehigh game, including working on finishing our chances," Noonan said. "We're going to work hard to get better every day."
