Falcons look to nest atop MASCAC
FITCHBURG -- Entering last season, the Fitchburg State University men's soccer team was on top of the world. Now, the Falcons are hungry to get back there.
Courtesy of Matt Stewart - Sentinel & Enterprise
FITCHBURG -- Entering last season, the Fitchburg State University men's soccer team was on top of the world.
Now, the Falcons are hungry to get back there.
Fitchburg State enjoyed a wildly successful season two years ago, winning the MASCAC Tournament title and clinching a trip to the NCAA Tournament.
With a strong recruiting class last year -- and arguably even more talent -- expectations were incredibly high.
The result fell short of those dreams, however, as the Falcons went 6-11 (2-5 MASCAC) and didn't get the chance to defend their championship.
The Falcons will enter this season with a much different mindset, determined to recapture the team-first mentality that propelled them into the NCAA Tournament, and eager to reassert themselves after placing seventh out of eight teams in the MASCAC coaches' preseason poll.
"I think my players have learned one big, important lesson, it's about teamwork," Fitchburg State head coach Werner Thissen said.
"It's not about individual class and skill, it's about the team. I think we found that out last year, because we believe as coaches we had more skill, but it did not come together."
There will be a lot of new faces among the Falcons' ranks this season, as a number of players graduated from the program. Only nine players return from last year's team.
Steven Martinez, a midfielder, returns after capturing MASCAC All-Conference second-team honors, as well as being a member of the conference's sportsmanship team.
"The strength of the team is that we're a very selfless team this year," Martinez said.
"Everyone is very open to playing with each other, and there's no egos. We're team-oriented, family-oriented, and I think that translates onto the practice field."
Jared Burns returns at midfield. He believes the team has the potential to learn from last year, and have success, as long as everyone is on the same page.
"It was a rough season for us last year," Burns said.
"I think what ended up happening is we didn't jell and got into a hole pretty early. We tried to do what we did when we won the championship and make a comeback, but it just didn't work.
"I like to think we have regrouped, and have just as much as skill as the last two teams. The challenge is we have a lot of new players and have to get them to jell into how we do things here."
There will be a battle for starting goalkeeper between Alex Al-Zaibak and Connor Smith.
Al-Zaibak started seven games last season, posting a 2.71 goals-against average and a 61.2 save percentage.
Smith also started seven games, with a 2.85 goals-against average and a 57.4 save percentage.
"They both have the potential to start," Thissen said.
"But what I'm looking for is consistency. I can't have them taking days off, but we'll have enough practices to find that out."
Nick Masley, who started 14 games last season, returns to the midfield.
"Last year we went away from working hard and thought we had the talent to win it," Masley said.
"This year we're back to working hard, and like the year we won it, it was a lot of new guys, and we had a fresh start."
Mauro Gimenez, a Sizer School product, will anchor the defense.
Some of the new faces should make an impact immediately.
Rhode Island community college transfer Ibrahima Male seems to be one of the Falcons' big pickups this offseason, and Marckdonard Bastien and freshmen Zachary Pesetsky and Prince Boateng are all looking to log quality minutes early.
"Each year you start with a clean sheet," Thissen said.
"It doesn't matter what happened last year or two years ago, and it doesn't help us. We certainly learn from it and use it to get rid of those mistakes and move forward. We're looking forward."
Thissen borrowed a popular phrase from the Olympics, "all in," as the team's new motto for the season.
It incorporates Be 212 -- a motivational reference to the one-degree difference between merely hot water and boiling water -- to illustrate the importance of giving every last bit of effort.
"Be 212 is part of it, because Be 212 is a tool that will help you to be all in," Thissen said.
"I made it very clear to my players that in order to be successful I need you to be all in. There's no 90 percent, 95, or even 99, it needs to be 100 percent. It's not just on the field, but academic and off-field behaviors."
Fitchburg State opens the season Saturday at Keene State College.