Tag Archive: M. Soccer

  1. M. SOCCER | Elis face Cantabs in Ivy opener

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    Ivy League season starts this Saturday for men’s soccer as Harvard (2–5–1) will visit the Bulldogs for a 7 p.m. night game under the lights of Reese Stadium for Alumni Day. Yale (4–4–1) has lost the last five meetings in the series including last season, when the Crimson eked out a 1–0 victory against the Elis in Cambridge.

    This year the Bulldogs expect a win as Harvard’s offense has been cold tis season. The Cantabs lost to Boston University on Wednesday, 2–1, right after going 0–1–1 on a West Coast series against Santa Clara and Stanford. Prior to the game against the Eagles, the Crimson were scoreless for three straight games.

    Yale is coming off a tough 0–1 loss to No.1 UConn in the last minute of double overtime, just one game after earning its first road win at URI.

    “It was an exhausting weekend,” captain Chris Dennen ’12 said. “I think guys are physically tired, but we’re ready for Ivy season right now … we’ll be ready for Harvard.”

    Peter Jacobson ’14 was named to the Ivy League honor roll Monday for scoring two goals against Rhode Island. Brad Rose ’12 is the de facto leader of the Yale attack, as he’s tied for second in the Ivy League point total with three goals and five assists.

    The Crimson have only scored four goals all season, while the Bulldogs have 16. If the game turns into a shootout, it will favor Yale, as the team has yet to lose after scoring in a match.

    Harvard has also yet to settle on a consistent starting goalkeeper this season. Crimson goalkeepers Austin Harms and Brett Conrad are ranked sixth and 10th in the Ivy League in total saves. Yale goalie Bobby Thalman ’13 is first with 49 saves.

    This will be the first of a three game home stretch for the Bulldogs. Each meeting will be critical as there are only seven games in Ivy League play. Yale will face its toughest opponent — Penn — on the road on Oct. 22. The Quakers have won three games in a row, scoring the most goals in the Ivies and allowing the second fewest goals. Penn received two votes to be admitted into the top 25 on Monday.

    “These road experiences will only help us,” head coach Brian Tompkins said, referring to the team’s tough losses against Lehigh, No.15 St. John’s and No.1 UConn. “We’ve proved we can go on the road and play a good team.”

    Kickoff against the Crimson is scheduled for Saturday at 7 p.m.

  2. M. SOCCER | A year later, offense making strides

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    The Yale men’s soccer team scored just 10 goals last season. But through nine games this year, just over half of the team’s schedule, the Bulldogs have already scored 16, including a 7–0 routing of Marist in mid-September — and Ivy Conference play has not even started.

    The team’s offensive improvement comes from a number of different factors, including three new assistant coaches, two of whom are Yale alumni, and the return of forward Brad Rose ’12, who sat out last season due to an ankle injury suffered in the team’s season opener.

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    Head coach Brian Tompkins said he took a “hard look” over the winter at the way he was running the men’s soccer program. He looked closely at the team’s practice routine, its coaching staff and player personnel and decided to make some changes. He said practices often had too much of a laid-back atmosphere.

    “The program was in a trough,” Tompkins said. “I didn’t feel like we were achieving on the field consistent with our ability.”

    At the start of spring training, Tompkins decided to focus more time in practices on game situations rather than drills. He has also tried to make more efficient use of practice time, keeping players active from the moment the team starts up to the very last minute.

    To help with his new program, Tompkins brought in three new assistant coaches at the start of the preseason: Hiro Suzuki ’00, Cailean Bailey and Jay Alberts ’03. Suzuki served as the captain of the 1999-2000 men’s soccer team, while Alberts played with the A-League’s Minnesota Thunder for two seasons. Tompkins described Alberts as “one of the greatest players in Ivy League history.” Alberts said that, so far, he has tried to implement some of the methods he learned while playing professionally.

    Bailey works in all areas of the soccer program but has been working particularly closely with the goalkeepers. Bailey’s efforts have made a noticeable impact. Goalkeeper Bobby Thalman ’13 has a 84.5 save percentage, while last year that number stood at 73 percent.

    “It’s a position that I think deserves a lot of individual attention,” Bailey said. “The goalkeeper is a big position. It’s the one that gets noticed a lot when things go good or bad.”

    Chris Dennen ’12, captain of the men’s soccer team, added that the team made a commitment at the end of last season to be more competitive in both practices and games.

    “The greater energy in practice has been carrying over to our actual game play,” Dennen said.

    Both Suzuki and Alberts said that, in addition to changing the team’s mindset, they have also been able to bring more flexibility to the needs of the players because they understand the challenges Yale student-athletes face.

    “Especially through midterms and when classes start getting heavy — I can relate to those things in my coaching,” Alberts said. “When guys are getting tired we take our foot off the pedal a little bit and have lighter practices.”

    In terms of technical skills, Suzuki said the team has also been working to add more defensive pressure. Offensively, the team has been doing activities that require more mobility. He said the players are forced to move before the ball arrives at them instead of waiting. In addition, the team has been working on off the ball movement.

    Charlie Neil ’12 said the ultimate purpose of these drills has been getting players in better position to score goals.

    The return of Rose has also been a major boost for the offense. Rose has already made an impact on the team this year with 11 points, and he said he has benefitted from the team’s more competitive dynamic.

    “Individually it allows you to be more prepared physically and mentally for games,” Rose said. “There’s not much differentiation between practices and games. It makes everything seem easier.”

    Rose added that after the Bulldogs’ wins and double-overtime loss against No.1 ranked UConn, they believe they can win, and this belief in winning separates this season from prior seasons.

    Tompkins said that the men’s soccer program is leaving a time when it underachieved behind it, and the Bulldogs are now establishing themselves as a team that should make its mark in the Ivy League.

    The Bulldogs begin conference play on Saturday at 7 p.m. against Harvard.

  3. M. SOCCER | Huskies deny miracle tie in final minute

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    The odds did not favor the Yale men’s soccer team Tuesday night in its game against No. 1 UConn.

    The Bulldogs were playing their third game in five days — their second road game in three days — against the No. 1-ranked team in the nation, a team that had shut out its past five opponents, and had just beaten No. 12 St. John’s 2–0, a team that beat Yale 2–0 just two weeks before.

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    But up to the 109th minute, it did not seem like the odds mattered much. Yale held the Huskies scoreless for most of the game and nearly escaped with a tie, but UConn scored with 61 seconds remaining in double overtime to seal the victory for the Huskies.

    Yale had its chances to pull off the upset. With the score at 0–0 in the first half, captain Chris Dennen ’12 had the Bulldogs’ best scoring opportunity of the night. He nearly scored on a header aimed for the corner of the goal, but a defender stopped the ball at the line before it could roll in.

    “We fought for each other, we played for each other [and] we really gave them a scare,” Dennen said.

    Improbably, Yale outplayed UConn in the second half. The Bulldogs got three more shots on goal than the Huskies, two from Jenner Fox ’14.

    “In the second half, that might be our best performance of the season. … We were dangerous,” head coach Brian Tompkins said. “Our guys really stepped up to the challenge today.”

    The teams have played every year for the last five years, the record leaning heavily in favor of the Huskies, 0–4–1. The single tie came in 2008, at Morrone Stadium in Storrs, when neither team was able to score a goal. The last time the Bulldogs beat the Huskies was in 2003, again at Morrone.

    But Yale has experience playing strong defensive teams this season. National rankings for shutout percentage show five teams tied for second place — Yale has played three of those teams. Lehigh, St. John’s and UConn have kept three-quarters of their opponents from scoring any goals. Yale lost to Lehigh and St. John’s before visiting Connecticut.

    UConn’s freshman goalie, Andre Blake, was a large obstacle Tuesday night. Blake was named the Big East’s Goalkeeper of the Week on Monday, and ranks third in the NCAA with a 0.929 save percentage. On Tuesday night, he boosted that percentage with another five saves. Max Morice ’15 missed the net right at the buzzer, and the game went into overtime.

    UConn then went into overdrive. The Huskies attacked the Elis, forcing Thalman to block four shots in just 10 minutes. In double overtime, Thalman would get one more save, and Yale looked like it was going to secure the improbable draw until — with 61 seconds left in the nearly two-and-a-half-hour match — Connecticut’s Blake Nickardo scored his first goal of the season off a deflected corner kick. “We didn’t deserve the result that we got, frankly. … It was really a heartbreaking loss,” Tompkins said. “A touch here, or a bit of luck there and we might not have just tied — we might have won.”

    Dennen, who had two shots at the Huskies’ goal, said that the team was exhausted after playing three games in five days. But he added that its peformance versus the No. 1 Connecticut Huskies shows that Yale can run with any team.

    “We know we can hang with anyone in the country. … We’re not afraid,” Dennen said. “It’s something this team takes pride in. … We’ll give it our best and work like hell.”

    The Bulldogs will sink their teeth into the Crimson Saturday at 7 p.m. at home for their Ivy League opener.

  4. M. SOCCER | Elis split weekend, prepare for No. 2 UConn

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    Going into this weekend, the men’s soccer team was perfect at home and winless on the road. But the Bulldogs reversed their fortunes when they played Fairfield and URI, falling at home before earning their first away victory.

    Even though Yale (4–3–1) outshot Fairfield 15–8, the Bulldogs were unable to find the net. The Stags (1–4–0) scored only once, off a corner kick that goalie Bobby Thalman ’13 blocked but couldn’t control. The visitors were able to hold on from there for the upset, and their first win of the season. Head coach Brian Tompkins was left scratching his head.

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    “The game turned on a freak goal,” Tompkins said. “[Soccer’s] a strange game … one week everything you shoot goes in, and the next week it’s difficult to find a goal.”

    But any worries that the team had used up all its goals in last Sunday’s 7–0 pounding of Marist were immediately put to rest Sunday when the Bulldogs scored twice in the first 16 minutes at the University of Rhode Island (3–6–0). Brad Rose ’12 scored the first goal into the right side of the net from 20 yards out, and then worked the defense to set up two easy goals for Peter Jacobson ’14 to beat the Rams 3–1.

    “Brad took on a couple of guys … they were just easy finishes for me,” Jacobson said. “It’s great to have him back.”

    Captain Chris Dennen ’12 was moved back to the defensive side of the ball where he played last year with Marcus DiLallo ’12. Coach Tompkins said the “senior presence” gave the Yale defense a boost.

    “In a tough environment and on the road, you need some guys who have been around the block,” Tompkins said.

    Dennen said that it is variability — of opponents, fans and weather — that makes away games so challenging.

    “We’re happy and excited to get that first road win, and hopefully it’s the first of many,” Dennen said.

    Not too many people are predicting a second road victory tomorrow, when the Bulldogs visit No. 2 Connecticut (8–0–0) in Storrs. The Huskies just entered league play, shutting out No. 12 St. John’s 2–0, the same St. John’s squad that shut Yale out 2–0 two weeks ago. UConn has shut out its last five opponents, and has outscored its opponents 15–2 this season. The team said they were looking forward to the challenge.

    “They’re an outstanding team,” Tompkins said. “[In the past] we’ve tied them, we’ve beaten them, but we’re not expecting it to be easy.”

    Tompkins said for Yale to have any chance they need to communicate, manage the ball well and not waste any chances.

    Dennen said the team has improved in game management as players have gotten more experience; but, he added, they still need to focus on playing their own style if they want to win.

    “To be the good team that we know we are, we have to use combination plays … give-and-goes, and keep possessions in the opponent’s third,” Dennen said.

    More than 5,000 fans attended the game against St. John’s; those numbers will almost certainly be down on Tuesday night, but it will still be a much larger crowd than the Bulldogs are accustomed to. If Tompkins has learned anything from this year’s erratic team, it’s that they have potential.

    “There’s no quit in this team, that’s for sure. When they play well they can score goals. We can be a tough defensive team. If we play well, we can make some noise when we enter league play.”

    Kickoff is at 7:30 p.m. tomorrow night in Joseph J. Morrone Stadium.

  5. M. SOCCER | Fairfield and URI up ahead for Yale

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    After a 7–0 steamrolling of Marist last Sunday, the men’s soccer team will look to keep up the speed when it faces Fairfield University tonight at Reese Stadium.

    Still, head coach Brian Tompkins said it would be unrealistic to expect a replication of Sunday’s performance, calling the numbers against Marist a “statistical anomaly.” Yale’s scoring percentage was more than double its previous highest-scoring game; Marist, which outshot the Bulldogs 22–18, only got five of those shots on goal.

    Based on their records — Yale is 3–2–1 and Fairfield is 0–4–0 — a win would appear well within the Bulldogs’ reach. Last year Yale lost to Fairfield in double overtime, as the Stags scored the game-winner with less than nine minutes left.

    “Fairfield’s been a little bit of a nemesis of ours the last few years,” Tompkins said. Revenge has been a common refrain for this team, as the 15 returning players look to bounce back from last year’s 3–12–2 record, and are rematching against many familiar opponents. So far, with only three games left in nonconference play, they’ve only been partially successful.

    Although they sport a solid 3–0 home record, the Bulldogs are 0–2–1 away from home. The team has scored only one goal over three games on the road.

    But those numbers are skewed, as the team played two very talented squads at Lehigh and St. John’s.

    This Sunday Yale can take advantage of a vulnerable Rhode Island team that has dropped two of its three home games so far.

    Part of Yale’s advantage may be its inconsistency — not in goal scoring, but in who’s scoring. Eight different players have scored goals for Yale so far this year, and 15 players have been able to find time in all six games. Tompkins said that getting so many players in-game experience has been important to their success.

    “It’s all about competitiveness, trying to develop a competitive edge in all our players,” Tompkins said. The coach explained they achieve this with situational drills, and limiting the time and space that players have to work with.

    He said this approach has worked, as different players have stepped up in different games. On Sunday that player was Brad Rose ’12, who was named Co-Ivy League Player of the Week for scoring two goals and two assists. It was the second time he has received the honor, after scoring both goals in a 2–1 victory over Columbia in 2009 and recovering from injury in 2010.

    Jenner Fox ’14 may be the most consistently impressive player on the team so far. Fox leads the team with three goals and three assists, and a .375 shooting percentage.

    The Rams are also on a two-game winning streak, and get Yale in the middle of a six-game home series. The last meeting between both teams was in 2009, when Yale lost by one goal in overtime.

    Looking for some payback tonight under the home lights of Reese Stadium, the Bulldogs kick off against Fairfield at 7 p.m., and at 1 p.m. this Sunday at URI.

  6. M. SOCCER | Bulldogs chew up Marist, 7–0

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    At the start of the men’s soccer team’s Sunday game against Marist, the Red Foxes looked strong, forcing goalkeeper Bobby Thalman ’12 to make three saves in the first ten minutes. But just twenty minutes later, the Bulldogs (3–2–1) had already put the game well out of reach of Marist (4–2–1) by five goals in 12 minutes on the way to a 7–0 rout.

    Brad Rose ’12 scored the first goal 15 minutes in, a swerving free kick that went over the wall and just under the crossbar. Five minutes later Rose scored again. Headers from Peter Jacobson ’14 and — one minute later — Milan Tica ’13 made it 4–0 and Jenner Fox ’12 added another goal before the 30-minute mark. The offensive explosion surprised everyone, including head coach Brian Tompkins.

    “It’s just one of those days where everything turned to gold,” Tompkins said. “No one told me there’d be days like this.”

    Indeed, it has been a long time since Yale had such a day. The team only managed to score 10 goals all of last season. The record for most goals in one game is 10, reached against UConn in 1935 and 1936, and against Hartford in 1960. And the last time the Elis scored seven goals was in a win over Sacred Heart in 2004.

    For a team that played exceptional, two players still managed to stand out. Jenner Fox ’12 and Brad Rose ’12 both had two goals and two assists. For a super-senior like Rose, who’s been hunting for the back of the net the last five games, today’s game was less ecstatic and more relief.

    “It feels like a weight’s been lifted off my shoulders,” Rose said, following his giddy teammates off the field.

    The Bulldogs’ home record is now 3–0 this season, and at the end of Sunday afternoon’s game the team gave the sparse audience still in attendance a round of applause.

    “It’s a great place to play … there’s a good energy here,” Tompkins said. “We always thank the fans.”

    Last Friday night, Yale went on the road to try to avenge last season’s loss to Fairleigh Dickinson (3–2–1). Tompkins said he was proud of how his team responded to adversity, as Aden Farina-Henry ’12 scored the equalizer less than ten minutes after the Knights put one on the board at the start of the second half. Ultimately, that would be all the scoring for the night. Even after putting six more shots on FDU’s goal after two overtimes, Yale still finished with a 1–1 tie.

    FDU head coach Seth Roland said in a video interview it was a fair result for both teams.

    “It was a really hard fought game,” Roland said. “Yale is fit and strong … We competed well, we competed hard, [but] a draw would be a fair result in this game.”

    Tompkins agreed with that analysis. While the team has clearly evolved in terms of its goal scoring, he said the players still need to work on ball possession and defense, those aspects of the game which will give them better control over tempo. Although four goals in six minutes is one tempo he’s not going to argue with, he said.

    Yale takes the field against Fairfield this Friday night at 7 p.m., under the lights at Reese stadium for its final nonconference home game of the year.

  7. M. SOCCER | Bulldogs hungry for revenge

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    Yale men’s soccer (2–2–0) is looking for revenge this weekend. The team will travel to Teaneck, New Jersey tonight to face Fairleigh Dickinson (3-1-0), who beat Yale by one goal at Reese Stadium last year.

    “It was a game we should have won,” said midfielder Charlie Neil ‘12. “Hopefully this year we can go down there and get a win.”

    After FDU, the team will face Marist (4–1–1) on Sunday afternoon at home.

    Tonight will be the second home game of the season for the Knights. They enter the game with some momentum after beating Princeton by one goal in overtime last Friday. It was the team’s second overtime victory in just four games so far this season. Yale has yet to play in overtime, but head coach Brian Tompkins says the team will be prepared.

    “It requires being physically fit, and the endurance to not only get through it but play well,” Tompkins said. “We’re well conditioned enough to handle it.”

    A Yale attack that seemed bereft of scorers last year now seems to have a glut of offensive possibilities. The team’s five goals have come from five different players: midfielders Jenner Fox ’14, Neil, Max Morice ’15 and Max McKiernan ’14 and forward Peter Jacobson ’14. Fox was named to Ivy League Honor Roll this Monday for his goal and assist in the Bulldogs’ 3–2 win against Quinnipiac last Friday night.

    “It comes from our practices,” Neil said. “They’re really about creating opportunities from anyone at any time … that way teams can’t focus in on one guy or one thing.”

    Yale will come home for Sunday’s match-up against Marist. The Red Foxes, like FDU, are also fresh off a victory after beating the New Jersey Institute of Technology two days ago. The last time Yale and Marist met was in 2006, when the Red Foxes visited New Haven for the home-opener, facing a Yale team that was fresh off a shared Ivy League title. The Bulldogs won that match-up 3–0. Tompkins said this year could be more challenging.

    “Marist is a good team; they have three or four very good players capable of winning games,” Tompkins said. “We’ll definitely have our hands full with them … I’m confident in our guys, we’ve been playing well at home.”

    Neil said the team will look to dictate the pace of Sunday’s game, and prevent the Red Foxes from settling into their defensive style of play.

    Yale will have an edge between the goalposts with experienced keeper Bobby Thalman ’12. Thalman leads the Ivy League in saves with 25 – almost twice as many as the second ranked keeper – and also has the highest save percentage, blocking more than 83 percent of shots on goal. That unusually high number of saves isn’t indicative of a broken defense, Tompkins said, but two unusually tough road games against Lehigh – just coming off a win against Stanford – and St. John’s – ranked 25th in the nation.

    “I think we all have the confidence that Bobby is likely to get a hand on it,” Neil added. “Being a big guy he can get to some balls that other keepers can’t get to.”

    Tompkins said that Thalman has been a key communicator for the defense. His role has taken on additional responsibility now that standout veteran defender Andy Hackbarth ’12 will miss the rest of the season after suffering a preseason shoulder injury.

    “Obviously Andy’s a big loss … we’ve tried not to dwell on it, but we’re trying to focus on the guys that are playing,” Tompkins said. “We really haven’t looked at it like it’s a problem. It’s a tactical question that needs to be solved.”

    Tonight, the Bulldogs look to capture their first victory away from home at Fairleigh Dickinson at 7 p.m. Neil said this victory will be important for the team’s momentum, after splitting games in each of its last two weekends.

    Students can watch the Bulldogs take the field against Marist this Sunday at 1 p.m. at Reese Stadium. Tompkins said the fans played a critical role in last Friday’s last minute win against Quinnipiac.

    “They really were tremendous … for them to engage with the team has been a real boost for the players. We hope to see a lot of people out there again on Sunday.”

  8. M. SOCCER | Neil goal lifts Elis over QPac

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    The men’s soccer team went 1–1 for the second time in as many weekends, but this time, the Bulldogs showed greater resiliency.

    The Elis held off a feisty Quinnipiac rally Friday night, coming out with a 3–2 victory. On Sunday, Yale stayed within one goal of a heavily favored No. 25 St. John’s squad, but ultimately lost 2–0 in the final two minutes.

    Quinnipiac took the lead early in Friday night’s matchup, scoring a goal in the first half. But Yale would storm back early in the second, scoring two goals in less than five minutes. Jenner Fox ’14 made the first goal and assisted on the second, putting the ball in exactly the right place for a Peter Jacobson ’14 header. It was at that moment that goalie Bobby Thalman ’12 knew this year’s team had become more aggressive on offense than last year’s squad.

    “We didn’t want to go back there,” Thalman said. “We’re willing to fight for every goal.”

    From there, it seemed like the Elis had the game in the bag, but Quinnipiac tied up the game, 2–2, with a 25-yard bullet into the top of the net from forward Philip Suprise, just five minutes from the end of the match.

    “That’s definitely on me,” Thalman said. “[A] savable ball, nothing too spectacular, I’ll definitely make that save next time.”

    Rather than settle for the tie, midfielder Charlie Neil ’12 scored a few minutes later off an assist from midfielder Kevin Michalak ’15, when his shot bounced off a Quinnipiac defender and trickled into the back of the Bobcats’ net.

    “Kevin Michalak played a real nice ball in,” Neil said. “It happened to land in a good spot.”

    Sunday’s matchup against St. John’s saw far fewer Yale opportunities at the net. The Red Storm outshot the Elis 22-5, posting 11 total shots on goal. Bobby Thalman ’12, however, was a formidable presence in the net, recording nine saves and keeping the score within one goal for 88 minutes.

    “Bobby had an awesome game,” Neil said. “He kept us in the game, he had a bunch of key saves. He gave us opportunities to get back in it.”

    St. John’s entered the weekend ranked 25th in the nation, and the Bulldogs played them in a tough environment. Belson Stadium, home of the Red Storm, has had an average attendance of over 1,300 people for the last two seasons; by comparison, a little more than 600 showed up to Friday night’s game against Quinnipiac at Reese Stadium. Moreover, St. John’s has had a home win percentage of just under 80 percent over the last nine years.

    “We knew what to expect, it was going to be a hostile environment,” Neil said. “They had a bunch of fans behind the goal, and it was difficult to hear at times. … [W]e don’t let that affect us too much.”

    After losing to Maryland, the Red Storm has rattled off four victories, all of them shutouts. The first was against a No. 8-ranked William and Mary; this weekend the Storm added Harvard and Yale to the list, defeating both Ivy League opponents 2–0. The Bulldogs did better than the Crimson, however, forcing the Red Storm’s goalie to block at least two shots on goal — Harvard had zero, as did Boston University.

    “[St. John’s is] a quick team, their defense was really able to handle our attack and transition against us really well,” Neil said.

    The Yale team won’t face such stiff competition this weekend, as the players travel to Fairleigh Dickinson, then return home to play Marist. The Bulldogs lost to Farleigh Dickinson at home last season, 1–0.

    “We definitely proved to ourselves we can put the ball in the back in the net against Quinnipiac,” Thalman said. “We want some revenge from last year on some of these teams.”

    Kickoff against Farleigh Dickinson is slated for Friday at 7 p.m. and Sunday at 1 p.m. against Marist.

  9. M. SOCCER | Yale may face hostile crowd at home

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    This weekend looks to be the most intense on Yale’s (1–1–0) nonconference schedule, as the Elis face cross-town rivals Quinnipiac (0-2-0) at home tonight, and then look to upset No. 25 Red Storm at St. John’s (2-1-0) on Sunday.

    Despite playing at home, the environment may be more like a road game for the Bulldogs. In a Youtube address to the Bobcat faithful posted yesterday, Quinnipiac midfielder Brett Uttley implored the student body to take over Reese Stadium. “We need to make Yale our home,” he said.

    Yale’s all-time record against Quinnipiac is a dominant 6-0-2, although last year’s game was nothing to be proud of, as the Bulldogs escaped with a tie in double overtime. Because of the proximity, forward Brad Rose ’12 acknowledged that the rivalry game against Quinnipiac is always tough. But he likes Yale’s chances this year.

    “[They’re] more similar to [Central Connecticut State],” Rose said. CCSU was the Bulldog’s first opponent this season, whom the Bulldogs beat 2-0 at home. He added that the team hopes to move the ball through its skilled midfielders, and avoid the defensive breakdowns they experienced against Lehigh’s long chip shots.

    “It’s a desperate play,” Rose said referring to those chip shots. “We can get possession … as long as we maintain our discipline and stay organized.”

    Maintaining their poise may be difficult when the Bulldogs face the No. 25 Red Storm at Belson Stadium, the 12th top venue as ranked by College Soccer News. St. John’s leads the series 2-1-0 against Yale, and defeated the Bulldogs 2-1 in overtime at Reese Stadium last year. The Elis last played at Belson Stadium in 2001, when the Red Storm won 5-0.

    This year, St. John’s shut out its first two opponents on the road, and has allowed only three goals over five games. Senior defender Connor Lade was named the Big East defensive player of the week for his efforts; getting past him will be a priority for the Yale attack.

    Midfielders Max McKiernan ’14 and Max Morice ’15 will play a part in that attack; both players were named to the Ivy League honor roll on Monday for their two goals in the win over CCSU. But every Yale player will be required to put pressure on the Big East’s top ranked defense.

    Head Coach Brian Tompkins looks forward to the challenge.

    “We have always embraced the opportunity to measure ourselves against the best teams in our region and beyond,” Tompkins said in an interview earlier in the season.

    This game will be a measure of Yale’s progress since last season’s shooting woes. At this point last year, the Bulldogs were only able to score two total goals which is equal to this season’s total through two games.

    Rose said the team has a new winning attitude this season, influenced largely by the three new assistant coaches who have joined the team.

    “Two of them played for Yale,” Rose said. “Coach Suzuki … and Coach Alberts, they know how to get to the Ivy Championship, because they’ve been there before.”

    Yale will face-off against Quinnipiac at Reese Stadium tonight at 7 p.m., and against St. John’s at Belson Stadium Sunday at 7:30 p.m.

  10. M. SOCCER | Rose ’12 looking for one last shot

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    The UConn defender decided to slide-tackle forward Brad Rose ’12 at exactly the wrong moment: right when he was shooting the ball.

    The defender slid in for the tackle, not only hitting the ball, but Rose’s shooting foot as well, twisting it so that the toes on his right foot were unnaturally pointing away from his body.

    The tackle only lasted a moment, but it would become the defining moment of Rose’s senior season. An MRI revealed a tear in the muscles connecting his ankle to the shin. He was told the recovery time for similar ankle tears was 12 months.

    “It sucked — there’s no other way to put it,” Rose recalled.

    But Rose didn’t quit. He had faced injuries before in a sophomore season that attacked both his health and confidence.

    “It became a psychological game – which I didn’t win,” he said.

    But this time would be different, he told himself. The tackle that ruined his senior year wouldn’t be the tackle that ended his career.

    “I want to try and play professionally after school,” Rose said. “I didn’t want to let go of soccer that quickly and easily.”

    So instead of graduating with the rest of his class last spring, Rose went home and started the rehabilitation process, getting ready for a fifth season of soccer thanks to a medical redshirt. The first month was spent in a large black boot; Rose said he couldn’t walk without feeling sharp pain. After the boot came off, his rehab really began — and it was neither quick nor easy.

    After six months he could start running; after eight, playing.

    More than a full year after the injury, Rose is competing. He started both games in Yale’s opening weekend, scoring an assist on Friday, almost exactly a year since the injury occurred. But more than just competing, Rose has been looking forward to one thing — “Winning.”

    Last year, the men’s soccer team went 3–12–2; Rose compared the experience of watching from the sidelines to torture. Head coach Brian Tompkins said the team “sorely missed” Rose and looks for him to be a factor this year.

    “Mature, experienced players are essential to … any college team, and Brad has been terrific with the younger players,” Tompkins said. “He is keen to score goals and be a go-to offensive player for us. He will have an important role to play in determining the team’s fortunes this fall.”

    Rose said that it’s his job, as a veteran on a team of veterans, to help define the attitude of the team when the games get tough once Ivy League play begins.

    “In the past we may have just rolled over,” Rose said. “[This year] the combination of seniors; a new atmosphere… we treat our practices like they’re games.”

    Last year the men’s soccer team lost seven games by one goal; this year, Aden Farina-Henry ’12, who also was originally part of the Class of 2011, expects a different outcome.

    “The team is shaping up nicely this year, creating more chances than in the past,” Farina-Henry said. “And it’s only a matter of time before Brad will be on the score sheet again.”

  11. M. SOCCER | Bulldogs split opening weekend

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    Last year, it took the men’s soccer team six games before they earned their first win. This year, it took the Bulldogs just one.

    Yale (1–1–0) dominated its home opener against Central Connecticut State (0–2–0) on Friday, beating the Blue Devils 2–0, but the team followed it up with a tough 0–1 loss on the road at Lehigh (1–1–1) yesterday.

    It was a reversal of fortune in both cases, as CCSU defeated Yale last year and Lehigh had been winless in the schools’ previous three meetings.

    In both games the Bulldogs played a very aggressive brand of soccer, swarming the ball on defense and accruing a significantly higher number of fouls than their opponents. At home, the Elis had 21 fouls (compared to CCSU’s 12); against Lehigh the tally was 11 fouls to 3.

    The strategy served them well against the Blue Devils on Friday. Captain Chris Dennen ’12 said the team was very eager to get on the field and perform with the intensity they’ve been training with over the off-season.

    “We were definitely ready to go, we had a lot of energy; we were definitely excited,” Dennen said.

    It showed, as Yale immediately forced a turnover, allowing Charlie Paris a strong shot at the goal just 14 seconds in. The Bulldogs’ two goals of that game would come later, from Max McKiernan ’14 in the final minute of the first half, and from Max Morice ’15 halfway through the second.

    “He had a great game, his first game in college,” Dennen said of Morice. “He’s a great player and part of the team system. It wasn’t surprising.”

    Dennen said that everyone on the team, freshman or senior, is expected to play his role. In fact, 18 different players split time over the weekend.

    “The thing about our team, we can create goals from pretty much anywhere,” Dennen said. “We’ll be able to out-possess teams and have a variety of attacking options. We’re a well-balanced attacking team.”

    Eleven different Bulldogs took shots in the two games, compared to just five players in last year’s first two games. The only statistical category that has not caught up is shots on goal. For such a dominant turn against CCSU, the Elis got only one more shot on goal, and the Mountain Hawks got twice as many chances at the net.

    Dennen said the score in the Lehigh game could have been a lot worse if it wasn’t for Bobby Thalman ’13, who was able to keep it close right until the end, posting nine saves.

    Dennen explained that Lehigh’s direct style of play — kicking the ball straight from the defense to their offense — frustrated the team’s rhythm. Lehigh’s only goal, and their first goal of the season, came off just such a long chip pass.

    Still, in the second half Yale was able to keep the ball out of the air and on the ground to create their own shots at the net. Lehigh’s goalkeeper, though, posted his second shutout in three games.

    “We put a fair amount of pressure on him,” Dennen said. “He made a few key punches and saves against us.”

    The Bulldogs will look to bounce back against Quinnipiac this Friday night, at home in Reese Stadium.

    “I think as a team we’re playing well, we’re coming together nicely,” Dennen said. “We show signs of a very promising season; but we have to learn from this loss.”