Although the ASU men's soccer club doesn't start their game schedule until the fall, they are busying themselves in preparation for it right now.
This spring, they are warming up for next season by playing in the eight-team premier division of the Scottsdale United Adult Soccer League, considered the top amateur soccer league in the Valley. They play each of the other division opponents every Sunday at McDowell Mountain in Scottsdale.
"It's really important that we practice and gel together as a team and play well," club president Neel Bhattachajee said. "If we do well in this league, it will serve us as a stepping stone for what we want to do in the fall."
Last year, the team had a 9-5-5 record, played in the Southwestern Conference of the National Intramural/Recreational Sports Association and made it to the National Open quarterfinals.
The team started off a little slow, which may be attributed to a lack of cohesiveness. Once the team got more acclimated with each other, things improved, said last season's co-captain Colin O'Banion.
"It's hard to get players to click together in such a short amount of time," O'Banion said. "We only practice for a week or so before we start games."
"For a soccer team with eleven players on the field," he continued, "there's not a lot of time to learn how each other thinks, plays and acts. We really didn't start clicking until the end of the year."
That improvement was evident in the National Open, in which they crushed Florida 6-1 in the first round of the tournament.
"We pounded Florida," freshman defenseman Jeff Friedman said. "That was our best game of the year."
Next fall, the team would like to finish in the top three of the league to secure a bid in the National Invitational Tournament, which will take place in Tuscaloosa, Ala.
Most of the players from last year's roster are playing this year. They include goalie Mike Anderson, midfielders Daniel Krause, Chris Arizagi and Danny Moore, and defensemen Sean Slawson, Friedman and Kellen Sporny. All but Sporny are participating in the spring season.
The soccer club also needs a new coach next fall. Giuseppe Ferrera served as coach last fall, but due to a new job, he is not with the team this spring and may not return next semester.
Bringing in a new coach is a top priority for the club. The team is currently using a "coach by committee" approach.
Regardless of who the coach is next year, hopes are high for next season.
"We're coming off a season in which we've improved so much," Friedman said. "We didn't play as well as we could have last season."
Bhattacharjee would like to see the club use this spring season to build team chemistry that will jump-start the next season.
"We're definitely focused on doing well in the spring," he said. "But we're definitely looking long-term at...what we want to achieve in the fall."
Chris Dizon is a sports reporter for the Web Devil. Reach him at christopher.dizon@asu.edu.
