The past two weeks following the Wake Forrest tournament have flown by. These non-league games are our last and final preparation for the most important half of our season… the A-10 Conference schedule. We’ve had our share of ups and downs during this time and continue to learn about each other and hope to find ways to become the team that we need to be. We’ve learned that we can compete with the top teams in the country, but at the same time, we can lose to any team. We beat BU, proving that we can beat (not just compete with) good teams. We then beat UNH, in a game that was finally won with some legroom. It showed that we could win comfortably and manage a game until the very end. We then were knocked down by Brown; a team that we should have beaten. Give Brown credit, they did to us what we have done to others in the past. We are young - and discovered against Brown that even tiny lapses of judgment can destroy otherwise good play.
We determined after Brown that in order for us to be successful “something had to change.” What I have found in my years of soccer is that every team, at some time, will reach this point. The point where they have just suffered an inexcusable defeat or poor performance and their season is not shaping up to what they had expected and hoped for. This kind of unwarranted loss exposes all the flaws that are concealed or ignored by winning. We harp on the phrase “something needs to change” but no one specifies what that “something” is. I personally think that the attitude often exemplified by this phrase is the easy way out. Too often it is nothing more than focusing on vague and meaningless words, it is like talking the talk, but not walking the walk.
At some point, all this talk about change really becomes a mantra of missed opportunities. It’s not going to prevent that disappointed drive home from the A-10s at URI after losing in the first round or worse yet, being let down after missing the A-10 tournament by a few points. And although it’s a tough dose of reality, on the ride home from Brown, that is where I felt this team was headed. It’s the first real lack of confidence I’ve had since coming to Amherst!! We missed the opportunity to earn a point against our top opponents – although we had chances to do so in all three games. We missed the opportunity to earn a solid non-league RPI with losses to good (but not great) opponents in Harvard and Brown. 5-5 is ok, but not where I want to be, and certainly not where this team should be.
We determined after Brown that in order for us to be successful “something had to change.” What I have found in my years of soccer is that every team, at some time, will reach this point. The point where they have just suffered an inexcusable defeat or poor performance and their season is not shaping up to what they had expected and hoped for. This kind of unwarranted loss exposes all the flaws that are concealed or ignored by winning. We harp on the phrase “something needs to change” but no one specifies what that “something” is. I personally think that the attitude often exemplified by this phrase is the easy way out. Too often it is nothing more than focusing on vague and meaningless words, it is like talking the talk, but not walking the walk.
At some point, all this talk about change really becomes a mantra of missed opportunities. It’s not going to prevent that disappointed drive home from the A-10s at URI after losing in the first round or worse yet, being let down after missing the A-10 tournament by a few points. And although it’s a tough dose of reality, on the ride home from Brown, that is where I felt this team was headed. It’s the first real lack of confidence I’ve had since coming to Amherst!! We missed the opportunity to earn a point against our top opponents – although we had chances to do so in all three games. We missed the opportunity to earn a solid non-league RPI with losses to good (but not great) opponents in Harvard and Brown. 5-5 is ok, but not where I want to be, and certainly not where this team should be.
I (like all my teammates) can say that I am going to go out to every practice with the mindset of working harder at getting better and improving - and I’m sure we believe we will. But, what happens on the day that I’m bummed because I get a bad test grade or something goes wrong off the field? What happens two weeks from now when the “sting” of the Brown loss has subsided and it’s easy to fall back into a routine of going through the motions? This is something that I think our team needs to be better at - but also I need to personally be better at. So what needs to change? A lot – but it’s not that simple!
On past teams that I have played on, this moment that requires a change to occur would be reached, not due to a lack of talent (we had plenty of that), but because of work rate and team chemistry. However, I do not think that this pertains to our team this year or that this is our “something”. The effort is there at every practice, but focus is sometimes lost. I think that we have great team chemistry, but at times we are still trying to get to know one another on and off the field. We use the excuse that we are young and cling to the belief that our mistakes will magically be corrected through experience, but the simple truth is that this experience requires time that we do not have. I think that our “something,” that elusive change that will prompt immediate success and beget wins, is desire, and more specifically, the passion and the uncontrollable NEED to win. Not a fear of failing (all college soccer players have plenty of that) but the desire to win at any cost. We need people to step up and change the flow of games. We need big plays at important times in games. We need players that not only want to be that hero who scores the winning goal – but who needs to be that hero.
On past teams that I have played on, this moment that requires a change to occur would be reached, not due to a lack of talent (we had plenty of that), but because of work rate and team chemistry. However, I do not think that this pertains to our team this year or that this is our “something”. The effort is there at every practice, but focus is sometimes lost. I think that we have great team chemistry, but at times we are still trying to get to know one another on and off the field. We use the excuse that we are young and cling to the belief that our mistakes will magically be corrected through experience, but the simple truth is that this experience requires time that we do not have. I think that our “something,” that elusive change that will prompt immediate success and beget wins, is desire, and more specifically, the passion and the uncontrollable NEED to win. Not a fear of failing (all college soccer players have plenty of that) but the desire to win at any cost. We need people to step up and change the flow of games. We need big plays at important times in games. We need players that not only want to be that hero who scores the winning goal – but who needs to be that hero.
This is what was the difference between the Brown game and the game against Siena last weekend. We found ourselves in a very familiar place being 0-0 at halftime. Both teams had good chances, but no one had stepped up and scored. In the past games that we were in this situation, we had lost focus on a set piece and got down 1-0. We gave up a goal because we lacked enough desire and passion to win every ball and sell out everything to keep it out of our own net. That is all a set piece really comes down to… who wants it more! At Brown, we basically got down and then rolled over and didn’t respond enough to get it back. However, against Siena we stepped up and controlled the game and eventually scored. We had everyone going forward with that combined desire to score and win. Everyone was emotionally invested, from the players on the field to the coaches to the bench, and our passion and spirit is what won us that game.
If we continue with this type of motivation, not just a refusal to lose, but need to win - we will be successful in the latter part of our season. You can talk about how technical and talented a team is all day, but what it really comes down to in a league like the A-10 is who wants it more on that day. The team that comes in better prepared tactically and then better executes their plan will be the winner. It’s only right that our first A-10 challenge is against Dayton. After the past two years, we owe them a tough game. Games like the upcoming one with Dayton is why we play the game of soccer. We are back to where we were last year against La Salle. None of the experts expect UMass to win. But that doesn’t matter as long as the people in our locker room believe it. Furthermore, this year we can’t just believe it, but we have to play like we NEED to beat Dayton. So, we may be the underdogs going into Friday’s game, but I wouldn’t count us out. We’ve proven we can play with the best and now it is time to prove that we can beat the best.
If we continue with this type of motivation, not just a refusal to lose, but need to win - we will be successful in the latter part of our season. You can talk about how technical and talented a team is all day, but what it really comes down to in a league like the A-10 is who wants it more on that day. The team that comes in better prepared tactically and then better executes their plan will be the winner. It’s only right that our first A-10 challenge is against Dayton. After the past two years, we owe them a tough game. Games like the upcoming one with Dayton is why we play the game of soccer. We are back to where we were last year against La Salle. None of the experts expect UMass to win. But that doesn’t matter as long as the people in our locker room believe it. Furthermore, this year we can’t just believe it, but we have to play like we NEED to beat Dayton. So, we may be the underdogs going into Friday’s game, but I wouldn’t count us out. We’ve proven we can play with the best and now it is time to prove that we can beat the best.
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