Ryan Glavey
Sports Editor
In sports, it is always easier to play as the underdog than the favorite, and the only thing harder than winning a championship is trying to win it again the next year; the Keene State College men’s soccer team has that unenviable task before them this year.
The team won the Little East Conference championship last season, and is looking to repeat as champs again this year.
Men’s soccer head coach Ron Butcher said he thinks of each year as a new team, and doesn’t live in the past.
“What happened last year doesn’t matter,” Butcher said. “It’s a new year, this is a new team, and we’re trying to put it together as a team this year.”
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Another KSC team that knows about repeating as LEC champions is the men’s lacrosse team, who has now won the conference championship two years in a row.
An important fact about the men’s lacrosse team is that it has had only a little turnover the last few years and has kept the core group of the team.
It is easier for a team to transition from year-to-year and continue to be successful when the team can count on the same players for multiple years.
The soccer team does not have that luxury. Butcher said that last year’s team was very experienced, but after graduating seven players from last year, the team is back to putting the pieces of the puzzle together.
A big part of college sports is a team and a coach’s ability to recruit new talent every year.
“This year most of all, I wanted to bring in a really high-end recruiting class, and I think we’ve done that,” KSC men’s soccer head coach Mark Theriault said.
Butcher said that several of the team’s freshman members have been getting serious playing time and have done well contributing. He said, however, now that players like Scott Douglas and Preston Ingram are returning from injury, they are likely to return to the starting line-up.
Butcher said it was a good thing that these players were finally back, because it creates competition with the other players.
“Competition breeds success, competition makes you hungry, and I think that’s true for any team,” Butcher said.
Senior lacrosse attacker, Griffin Meehan, said it’s very important to approach every game the same, no matter the opponent. Good teams and players are susceptible to overlooking opponents that they should beat without much trouble.
“Sometimes you get complacent at the top,” Theriault said. “As a coach you have to stay on top of the team’s preparation.”
Theriault said it is harder playing as the favorite because everyone is gunning for you, and wants to be the one to knock off the top team.
“Sometimes being the favorite hurts you, and other times it helps,” Meehan said, “Because it’s hard always being the team everyone is trying to beat, but at the same time you want to uphold the prestige of being the top team.”
Butcher said it’s a challenge to keep players from feeding into the expectations and lose sight of their preparation.
Butcher said in the past he would never tell his players the preseason rankings, so that it wouldn’t affect them.
The men’s soccer team is ranked second in the LEC preseason polls behind Eastern Connecticut.
“As a coach, you’d rather be ranked eighth in the preseason, so you don’t have to deal with the expectations,” Butcher said.
Butcher said the rankings really didn’t matter, were primarily for fans and the media, and mean nothing to the coaches.
“Everyone knows who the top four teams in the conference are, and everyone knows a trip to the LEC championship goes through either Keene or Eastern Connecticut,” Butcher said.
As difficult as it can be to come back year after year as a contender, that’s what these teams are always trying to achieve. Meehan said they don’t just stop there, but desire to continually build on their past success.
“Obviously I want to win the LEC again, and go undefeated,” Meehan said. “I’d also like to press further into the NCAA’s this year. It’ll be tough, but it’s definitely possible.”
Not showing the same surface confidence as Meehan, Butcher said the team is still finding its identity and its style of play, but once they do they will be good.
Ryan Glavey can be contacted at rglavey@ksc.mailcruiser.com
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