Mike Russo enters his 29th season at Williams facing one of his
most challenging seasons after losing eight starters off the 2006
team that finished 14-1-2 and advanced to the quarterfinals of the
NCAA Tournament before being eliminated by eventual national
champion Messiah College.
Standouts lost to graduation included NESCAC Player of the Year
Patrick Huffer and Division 3 National Player of the Year Dana
Leary. Still, Russo has a solid senior group he hopes can guide his
inexperienced group to more success on the pitch. “I think
inexperience is the key word,” Russo said. “I’m
not going to say this is a rebuilding year, but we’ll
definitely be regrouping. We have five very good seniors who will
give us great leadership. Still, we have several players who will
need to raise the level of their game.”
Russo has his five seniors spread out on the pitch, with Mike
Darling (1 goal, 4 assists) and Kit Fuderich (1 goal, 2 assists) up
front and Will Ford and Nate Elwood anchoring the back. Senior
tri-captain Ryan Pelletier was a standout back his first three
years under Russo, but the veteran coach has switched him to
midfield for the 2007 season to give the Ephs a stabilizing force
in the center of the field.
The experience on the rest of the field will vary. Joining Elwood
and Ford in the back will be a group including juniors Brian
Dolezal and Chris Gocksch, sophomores Kiel Bonhomme and Conor
Smith, and first-year Joe Vella.
The Ephs allowed just eight goals in 17 games last season, relying
not only on a veteran backline, but strong goaltending from Jeff
Castiglione and Greg Walker as well. That duo was among the June
graduates, leaving only sophomore Andrew Graham (10 minutes of play
in 2006) returning. Graham will battle for the starting spot along
with first-years Andrew Lyons-Berg and Jeff Laurer. “They are
all pushing each other in the preseason,” Russo said.
“Although Graham may have an edge because of his play in
Italy.”
Controlling the midfield is a key. Joining Pelletier there for the
Ephs will be junior Sam Empson (3 goals, 2 assists), who played in
all 17 games last season, starting one. Battling to fill the other
midfield spots will be junior Jay Ingram, sophomores Alex Johnson
and Ben MacKinnon and first-year Gordon Atkins.
Up front, juniors Sam Denton-Schneider and Peter Gordon, sophomore
Peter Houston and first-years Charlie Romero and Gaston Kelly will
all vie for playing time alongside Fuderich and Darling.
Williams scored 43 goals in 2006, with Huffer pacing the team with
14. Empson is the leading returning goal scorer with his three
tallies.
The Ephs traveled to Italy for a preseason trip in early August
and, as it happened three years ago, won the AC Cantu Tournament en
route to a 4-2-1 record. The trip provided Russo more evaluation
time for his young returning players. First-years are not allowed
to take part under NCAA guidelines. “The trip went well, it
gave us time to bond and time to evaluate some of our more
inexperienced players,” Russo said.
Williams will find the going tough in the NESCAC as usual, with
Middlebury, Amherst and Wesleyan returning strong teams. The Ephs
also have one of the toughest non-conference schedules, with five
potential NCAA Tournament teams listed. “I think we will be
competitive,” Russo said. “It will be interesting to
see how much we improve as the season goes along. I think having
the schedule we do will help us, but again, we will have to have
some players who raise their level.”
