2002 Outlook

07/15/02

- William and Mary men’s soccer has enjoyed a high level of success throughout its history, but particularly in the last 10 seasons. Since 1992, the Tribe has participated in the NCAA Tournament and ended the season nationally-ranked eight times. Four times during that stretch the Green and Gold won the Colonial Athletic Association title and three times W&M finished the year with an undefeated league record.

Despite recording the program’s 27th consecutive winning season (tied for the fourth-longest active streak in Division I), last year’s team learned that expectations of greatness can lead to even greater disappointment in the occasional lean year, as W&M ended 2001 with an 11-9-1 record and failed to make the NCAA postseason for the first time since 1994.

This season looks to be different, however, as an experienced Tribe team returns seven seniors and its top 11 scorers from a year ago and will place an impressive amount of offensive firepower in front of its traditionally strong goaltending unit. If W&M’s spring season is any indication, the disappointment of 2001 will soon be a distant memory.

“I don’t think it’s a coincidence that we scored as many goals as we did [16] in our last two spring games,” says Al Albert, entering his 32nd year as W&M’s head coach. “It’s a very dangerous lineup.”

At the top of that lineup is senior forward Carlos Garcia who led both the team and the conference in scoring last season. A strong candidate for All-America and league MVP honors, last season Garcia was named first team All-CAA, all-region and all-state. With the ability to score from virtually any spot on the offensive half of the field, he led the team and the conference with 15 goals and 38 points, while also adding a team-high eight assists.

The other starting forward in the Tribe’s 4-4-2 formation will be junior Brannon Thomas. At 6-4 and 190 pounds, Thomas is an imposing presence who is very good at holding the ball. Near the beginning of last season he showed a glimpse of what can be expected of him in 2002, scoring eight points (three goals, two assists) against High Point, the fourth-highest single-game total in the nation.

A valuable reserve off the bench will be redshirt-freshman Andreas Nydal. Albert describes him as a “pure forward” whose ability to score will be evident once he receives more playing time.

Perhaps even more imposing than the forwards will be the Tribe’s midfielders, which Albert considers one of the better offensive midfield groups the College has ever seen. Senior Ralph Bean and junior Phillip Hucles will be able to push up and provide increased pressure at the outside positions, while senior Doug Henry and junior Graham Albert will provide support from the inside.

Last season Bean opened the season on a hot streak with 10 points (four goals, two assists) in the first six matches and ended the year tied with Thomas for fourth on the team with 12 points. Named to the CAA’s second team in 2001, Hucles recorded 12 goals (including a team-best four game winners) and contributed six assists to finish second on the club with 30 points.

Henry ended the 2001 campaign second on the team and third in the CAA with seven assists, aiding goals in two of the Tribe’s overtime wins. The son of head coach Al Albert, Graham finished third on the team in goals (7) and points (16) and was second with three game-winning scores.

By far the team’s deepest and most experienced position, W&M will have a number of qualified midfielders ready to challenge for playing time. At the top of the list is a trio of seniors, Chris Burgess, Alan Golden and Justin Smiley, and sophomore Andrew Terry. Last season Burgess finished tied with Hucles for fourth on the team with six assists and also tied Hucles for fifth place in the CAA with 0.29 assists per match. A versatile player who can play at a number of positions, Golden scored a pair of goals and added two assists in 2001.

Smiley scored his only goal last season with just 98 seconds left in regulation to send the Old Dominion match to overtime and added a pair of assists on the year. Terry will move up to a left or central midfielder role after spending most of his time at back last season. Also in a reserve role will be Patrick Scherder, a left-footed freshman from Vienna, Virginia who is one of the fastest players on the team.

The biggest question mark in 2002 will be on defense, where the Tribe lost four players with significant experience (including first team All-CAA selection Caleb Stoddart) to graduation. Expected to step up and play the two center back positions are junior Kris Feldmann and sophomore Colin Young. The two best one-on-one defenders on the team, it will be important that they stay healthy this year, as both have lost time due to injury in their careers. Feldmann started 14 matches last season at midfield and back, while Young played in eight matches, including two starts, after missing the most of the season with an injury.

An experienced player with 29 starts in 36 matches at midfield, junior Alex Brown will move to the right back position this year. Also at back will be sophomore Brian Hinkle, the team’s top rookie from a year ago. Expected to begin the season at left back, Hinkle has the skill to play almost anywhere on the field and could find himself on the midfield line before the year is out.

Other possibilities to play at the back will be junior Lucas Salcedo and redshirt-freshmen Craig Myers and Clayton Voss. Also available at the position will be Jeffrey Marklin, a 5-10 freshman from Richmond.

Historically the College has always had spectacular goaltending and this year will be no exception, with senior Trevor Upton starting in net. Upton split the netminder duties last season with Billy Platz and has compiled six shutouts and a 1.20 goals against average in his career. Three of those shutouts came in his sophomore season, when he started all three CAA Tournament matches without allowing a goal.

Ready to back up Upton will be junior Tim Kassel, the Tribe’s most improved player in the spring season. Kassel made tremendous strides and looked very confident in the offseason. Two of the Tribe’s incoming freshmen, Kris Rake, a native of Flower Mound, Texas and Stephen Hughes from Alexandria, Virginia, are also keepers, although both are expected to redshirt.

As is the case every season, Al Albert has put together a nationally-competitive schedule for the Tribe in 2002. The 10-team non-conference slate features matches against seven NCAA Tournament teams. An early-season neutral-site matchup against national runner-up Indiana will be the first of four contests against teams ranked in the top-10 at the end of last season (Maryland, Virgina and Wake Forest being the others). The expanded CAA has improved as well, as 10 teams (including newcomers Delaware, Drexel, Hofstra and Towson) will battle for one of the six berths in the league tournament.