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In the not so distant past, the ASU men's soccer club was the most feared team in the nation.

The Sun Devils were an 11-man wrecking crew when winning the 1999 national championship and receiving an automatic bid to the 2000 national tournament. After having an average season in 2001, the mentality of this year's team reflects that of the 1999 squad.

Nearly 30 players were selected from the pool of 72 that tried out this fall. First-year head coach Giuseppe Ferrera, who overtook the reigns midway through last season, has incorporated a European style of play.

"Giuseppe is great," club president Neel Bhattacharjee said. "He is a total volunteer who comes to every practice and every game. It is hard to find a person who loves the game so much and comes out and does this for free."

The Sun Devils improved their record to 4-1-2 last week with a pair of wins over Long Beach State and Loyola Marymount. Earlier in the year, they garnered a win and a tie against Southwest Conference Champion NAU. ASU also celebrated a 5-2 victory over Thunderbird.

The Sun Devils have scored 14 goals, while relinquishing eight during their first seven games. A majority of the scoring has come from the international connection of sophomore forward Alp Erdilek (Turkey) and junior forward Richard Campbell (Scotland).

"Alp gives us a lot of speed up front, and our speed on the wings creates a lot of opportunities for him," sophomore outside midfielder Mark Brunjes said.

The goalkeeping duties have fluctuated three times because of injury. Bhattacharjee, ASU's original starter, is sidelined with a sprained ankle.

The Sun Devils called up freshman Mike Anderson from the reserve squad, while also relying upon senior Caleb Alvarado. The trio has not allowed more than two goals in a game and has allowed only four in its last five outings.

"We could easily be 5-0," Bhattacharjee said. "We just weren't able to finish."

Getting a team to come together this fast can be a difficult task. Senior team captain Colin O'Banion said time is of the essence.

"We have to gel together," he said. "We only started practice one week before our first game. Once we come together, we will be a lot stronger team."

Reach the reporter at john.powers@asu.edu.


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