By any stretch of the imagination, it was a successful opening week for the Simon Fraser University men’s soccer team. The Clan opened their National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division II schedule last week with two non-conference games, and two victories, in California.
Forward Lucas Ferritto was named Red Lion offensive player of the week in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference (GNAC) after netting a goal in each game. And the Clan, which entered the season ranked third in NCAA Div. II by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA), moved up to the second spot after the pair of victories.
It was a successful start for the men’s soccer team, unless, of course, you’re the team’s head coach. “Our mentality was lacking,” said head coach Alan Koch after the team’s second victory of the week, a 4–3 triumph over the Holy Names University Hawks.
“We went up by two in the first half but we let them back in it. In the second half we had our best five minutes of the game and scored a couple goals but we let them back in it again.” Koch has been a man to demand perfection since he took the helm in 2008.
Over the years, he’s come pretty close. But falling in the semi-finals of last year’s NCAA Div. II tournament makes a perfect record to start the season not good enough for him. “It’s never easy to go on the road so it’s good to get two wins,” he said. “We still have work to do and we’ll get at it this week as we prepare for Hawaii Pacific.”
The Clan returned home to Terry Fox Field for that match on Thursday, a 2-1 victory, reinforcing their position near the top of the ranking. Though there is undoubtedly work
to do, there are plenty of positives for the Clan to build on
in those three early season wins.
One is the play of aforementioned Ferritto, a senior out of Hamilton who missed time last year with nagging injuries. The diminutive forward’s two goals already match his output from all of last season, in which he played 12 games. The Clan was faced with a lot of turnover this summer — some graduating, others failing to meet what Koch calls “the SFU standard” — so production, and leadership, from senior players will go a long way in helping the Clan make it past the semi-finals this year.
But if you believe one poll, the Clan aren’t far off as it is. The NSCAA, an organization representing coaches at every level of the game in the United States, bumped the Clan up to second place in the NCAA Div. II, up from third. Coach Koch will tell you rankings mean nothing if you can’t match it on the pitch, but the improved ranking is nice to see after the team entered 2013 with a number of questions after all the turnover.
Those questions aren’t yet fully answered, but they’re getting there. A few more wins will go a long way in that regard. But for now, the team must build on its early season success, not revel in it; the only thing that’s good enough for Koch is a championship.
