Men's soccer goes international

Upon returning from Barcelona, Spain, the Norwich men's soccer team opened its preseason camp in mid August with high hopes of continued success.

The team started off the year in Spain playing a very competitive schedule. "It's an experience that I got to have when I was a soccer player at Middlebury College," said Head Coach Kyle Dezotell. "When I became a college coach it was something that I wanted to carry on."

The Cadets played a very competitive schedule while in Spain, highlighted by a game against a Spanish league semi-pro team.

According to Ryan Robertson, 24, a senior communications major from Northfield, Vt., "The competition was something that you are not going to see around here."

When asked if the team would try and emulate any of the teams they played in Spain, Robertson said the team had its own playing style and would stick to that going into the season.

The team is fresh off a semi-final loss to Albertus Magnus in playoffs last year, but has full intentions of making another run at a title. "We fully intend to compete in the GNAC (Great Northeast Athletic Conference) and hopefully be in the thick of it come late October," said Dezotell. "I see us a little bit ahead of where we were last year in terms of player talent."

With only one senior on the roster, the squad has a youthful appearance.

"Young players have a lot of energy, when it comes down to the final third of the game when you really need it," said Ryan Curley, 18, an engineering management major from East Haddam, Conn.

Despite such a young roster coach, Dezotell will rely on the many returners to step up for the Cadets.

"It's the first year in a while that we haven't had to start five or six freshman," said Dezotell. "It gives us a little more time to build them in."

Robertson is the lone captain for the Cadets. He will be called upon to provide a solid base of leadership for the team.

According to Robertson, the team has a solid group of players both young and old. There is some ability on the team that could match or even pass last year's success.

The freshmen did not join the team until its arrival back in the states when preseason started on Aug. 18. Practices were strenuous from the get-go with sessions of conditioning coupled with on-field practice, according to some of the players.

Brandon Place, 18, an architecture major from Concord, N.H, described the dynamic between the returning players and incoming freshman: "The returning players have been really welcoming," Place said. "They really want to get their team better."

"We have a lot of potential, we have a good group and we get along together well," said Pedro Rodriguez, 19, a freshman architecture major from Bolivar City, Venezuela.

The Cadets are 4-7 overall, with a 2-3 record in the GNAC. They are scheduled to play Johnson and Wales in Rhode Island on Oct. 8, and will play Oct. 11 against Lyndon State at home. The kickoff is slated for 3:30.