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Men's Soccer: Team notebook

Reserves play important role in Minutemen's success

Melissa Turtinen, Collegian Staff

Issue date: 9/9/08 Section: Sports
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Junior attack Mark DeSantis had possession of the ball during a game last season. DeSantis, along with junior Bryan Hogan, lead the Minutemen at offense. DeSantis had four goals and six assists last season and is expected to be one of the leading point earners in 2008.
Media Credit: Brian Tedder/Collegian
Junior attack Mark DeSantis had possession of the ball during a game last season. DeSantis, along with junior Bryan Hogan, lead the Minutemen at offense. DeSantis had four goals and six assists last season and is expected to be one of the leading point earners in 2008.
[Click to enlarge]
Three games into the season and the No. 13 Massachusetts men's soccer team is 2-1. The beginning of the season has been a test to show the team what it needs to work on before Atlantic 10 conference games begin on Oct. 12.
"After the first five games we'll know what kind of team we are, how good we are and the areas we need to get better at," UMass coach Sam Koch said before the first game on Aug. 29. "We'll be tested in these five games."
The test has just two games left, this weekend at the Old Dominion STIHL Classic. The Minutemen will be playing Old Dominion on Friday and William & Mary on Saturday.
The Minutemen have learned a great deal so far. They need to improve on their midfield, increase the speed of the game and limit extra touches on the ball, but overall they didn't give up many chances in the first three games.
"[There are] definitely still things we need to work on, but that's why you keep playing the game," Koch said.
The Minutemen scored when they needed to, making each game exciting for the fans and players. On Aug. 31, in a match against Boston University, senior Prince Ofosu scored a game-tying goal with three seconds left in regulation. The Minutemen won the game with a goal from Ben Arikian at the beginning of the second overtime.
The next weekend, the Minutemen had a similar golden-goal experience, this time it wasn't in overtime, but with 1 minute, 8 seconds left of the match against Siena on Sept. 6. Senior Chris Brown headed in Arikian's direct-kick for the only goal of the game.
Working on defense
The Minutemen lost two key defenders coming into this season due to graduation, Kenny Cook and Doug Rappaport. This has devoted the majority of practices to focusing on core defensive strategies. As the most recent match against Siena showed, the Minutemen's strategies seem to be working.
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