Every four years --timed so that each member has the opportunity once in his career --the men's soccer team journeys east across the Atlantic to test and fine-tune its skills against teams from coach Ralph Ferrigino's native England.
"[The tour of England] is going to help throughout the season," said junior co-captain Greg O'Connell upon return to the U.S. "It's bonded us, and that helps the team come together. That gives you a little leg up because other [teams] are fresh, and there's a lot of competition."
The whirlwind two-week trip began with four days in Sheffield before the team traveled to Liverpool. At their first stop in Sheffield, in spite of jetlag and little practice, the Jumbos matched up evenly against a Sheffield United club team and another local club team.
"We did well against them," senior co-captain Jon Glass said. "We came in without any practice and without seeing each other all summer. We played a full 90 minute game the first day right off the plane."
In Liverpool, though the team fared well against local club teams, it met its match against the Crewe Alexandra academy team, a soccer academy for aspiring professionals.
"We lost to Crewe Alexandra by a lot," Glass said. "They breed some of the best athletes in England. We played against players that must have been over six feet tall and about 15 years old."
The Jumbos also saw marked differences in the style of play between the English and the local NESCAC competition.
"NESCAC is much more physical and much more direct, a lot faster up and down the field," Glass said. "In England, they weren't nearly as physical, but more tactical and technical. The NESCAC overall is a lot of bigger guys."
For the men's team, the England tour offered an important chance to experiment on the field before the NESCAC regular season kicks off.
"The whole point of going over there was to try something new," Glass said. "We had a lot of players playing different positions, and we were trying out different formations."
-by Kelley Vendeland
