After a mediocre 2003 campaign in which it finished 6-7-2, the men's soccer team will have a new look this fall.
Eight seniors graduated with the class of 2004, creating the opportunity for a host of younger players to develop around a small but strong senior core. Additionally, head coach Ralph Ferrigno will return to his full-time coaching job this season after battling an undisclosed illness over the past few years.
"I'm still not 100 percent," Ferrigno said. "But my personal expectation is to get through the season. We had a down year last year, but I would like to get back on the plus side of the record again. This is my youngest team in 11 years, but it is a very talented group."
"We will definitely be better than we were last year," senior goalkeeper and captain Scott Conroy said. "We have a lot of younger guys, which means less experience, but our preseason attitude and work ethic has been good. We have high expectations."
Conroy is the team's only four-year veteran. He posted a 4-4-2 record in 2003 with a 1.75 goals against average and .714 save percentage. He, along with classmate and fellow keeper Matt Sullivan, will lead a lineup made up primarily of second and third year players.
Junior Todd Gilbert and sophomore Ben Castellot will return in the forward positions. Castellot was the team's leading scorer in 2003 notching five goals. Gilbert also contributed to last year's effort with two goals and one assist in 15 games after scoring six goals his freshman year. Freshman Bob Kastoff has looked promising in the preseason as both a forward and a wide midfielder.
If Castellot, who has been plagued by injuries over his career, stays healthy, and Gilbert, Kastoff and junior center midfielder Mike Guigli live up to expectations, the Jumbos will field an imposing offense.
The defense will be anchored by sophomore roommates Aaron Nass and Jon Glass. Both return after solid rookie seasons in front of Conroy and Sullivan. Freshman Andrew Drucker, whose brother David was the captain of the 2000 Jumbo squad, could also see time on the defensive end after a strong preseason showing.
Though they have looked promising during the preseason, Ferrigno feels the freshmen still need to settle in and get used to both Tufts and the collegiate level of play if they are to make a difference on the squad this year. Conroy echoed these sentiments.
"The freshmen will contribute what they can, but we're just trying to get them some experience for now," Conroy said.
The team squared off this week in two preseason scrimmages against area men's league teams. Tufts beat a team from Wakefield 2-0 on Monday and followed up with a 3-1 victory over the Eastern Massachusetts All Stars on Tuesday. Though both matches ended up in Tufts wins, the team still has a lot to work on before it plays up to its full potential.
"Winning both games was nice, but they were obviously preseason [matches]," Ferrigno said. "We improved significantly between game one and game two, but we still need to bring it up several notches from where we are now. We need to gel so we can have success this year and beyond."
The gelling process will have to happen in a hurry, as Tufts opens its regular season this Saturday at home against NESCAC foe Colby College. The White Mules were 6-6-2 last season and finished just out of the NESCAC playoffs. Last year's leading scorer, and now senior captain, Ryan Boccuzzi will lead a Colby team that lost just one senior to graduation last spring. The Jumbos beat the White Mules 2-1 last November first and are 4-0 against them in the teams' last four meetings.
In the powerful NESCAC, every league win is important. This means that Saturday's game is, according to Ferrigno, "the first rung on the ladder" to a successful season. However, the Jumbos aren't thinking that far ahead just yet.
"We're not worried about any other NESCAC teams at this point," Conroy said. "We're just focusing on improving both individually and collectively with each match."
