Men's Soccer

BENNINGTON, Vt. - "This is hell," said the exhausted, sweat-soaked player. "No it’s not - it’s purgatory," replied the coach.

Welcome to Day One of Southern Vermont College men’s soccer practice, where the Mountaineers do indeed face judgment as they struggle through stifling heat to prove themselves. The above exchange occured between junior Aaron Eschler - the returning New England Collegiate Conference Goalkeeper of the Year - and SVC head coach Tim Penrod, on the very first day of preseason practice on Wednesday. The players now have an entire week of triple-sessions to look forward to.

"Actually, they are four-a-days if you count the team run in the morning," said Penrod with a smile.

How hard is it? Don’t take the veteran Eschler’s word for it; ask freshman Alex Greenough, who came to SVC from Division-I Boston College High School in the Bay State.

"This makes [BCHS] look like a little girls’ school," Greenough said. "We did double-sessions there, but it was nothing like this. I’ve never done this much running in my life."

The Mountaineers must work this hard because they are running both away from and toward separate soccer identities as a team. Behind them are the SVC squads of seasons past, with their skeletally-thin rosters and rare wins buried beneath an avalanche of defeats. Ahead looms the program they hope to become, one that challenges annually for the NECC crown and gives the best collegiate programs in the region a run for their money. In between, Penrod sees a chasm that can only be crossed with commitment and effort.

"You can’t always control the outcome of a game, but you can control how hard you work," the coach told his players on Wednesday. "We will NOT be lazy."

Instead, it’s timed wind sprints and wheels and full-field suicides. More than one player ended up doubled over and vomiting during Wednesday’s workout, but no one was left behind; in fact, unity seemed to trump even the most intense feelings of exhaustion brought on by the heat and exertion.

At one point near the end of the suicides, junior Neel Patel of Bennington was the last Mountaineer on the field as he struggled to finish. Suddenly he was surrounded by his teammates, who all came back out to do an extra 240 yards of sprints so that Patel would not have to go it alone.

"I was surprised," Patel said afterward. "I expected them to cheer me on, but I didn’t think they’d come out and run with me. It really helped pick me up.

"This is our first day back on the field, and we’re already really close as a team."

Strength in numbers

Even the most unified whole is only as strong as the sum of its parts, but Penrod appears to have much more to work with than he has in the past. SVC has a rock-solid returning nucleus in Eschler, leading scorers Nick Haggerty and Tony Martinez, and sophomores Greg Gilmore and Sean Moore. A stellar freshman class including Greenough, Alex Borini, Chris Hanson and Noah Massucci will provide depth the likes of which the Mountaineers could only dream of in seasons past.

"My freshman year, we had 10 guys," Patel said. "Every one of us played 90 minutes."

This year, Penrod will have the luxury of using substitutions as a weapon - either to keep a steady supply of fresh legs on the field, or to put specialists in certain positions or situations to help sway a game in SVC’s favor. An example of the latter would be the potential for 6-foot-3 sophomore Ben Naaktgeboren to assume the role of air traffic controller in the Mountaineers’ attacking end.

"Ben’s size and ability in the air are going to make him a natural target up top," said Penrod of the former Cambridge Central School star.

SVC’s depth will also allow those with a nose for the net - especially Haggerty and Martinez, who combined for all but two of the team’s goals last year - to zero in on the opposing net rather than trying to plug an endless string of holes in the proverbial dam.

"Last year we had to keep a lot of our focus on defense, because so much of the time we were getting pounded," Haggerty said. "With the guys we have now, we’ll be able to focus more on offense and put more balls in the net."

Stacked schedule

That focus will be necessary if SVC hopes to fulfill its goal of winning an NECC title. Penrod has helped stack the Mountaineers’ out-of-conference schedule with powerful opponents, beginning with Castleton State on the road on Sept. 1 and including formidable Skidmore at home on Oct. 27.

"Castleton has been in the NCAA Tournament the last two years, and last year we only lost to them 1-0 in overtime," Penrod said. "There’s nobody in our conference as tough as them, and Skidmore is even better - probably the toughest team we’ll play all year.

"We face teams like that to make our conference schedule that much easier. You don’t get better by beating up on weaker teams."

Just how much better this year’s Mountaineers will be can be seen at their home tournament, which kicks off on Sept. 5 when they face Regis College at noon. If the off-season and first day of practice are any indication, fans are likely in for a whole different level of soccer.

"Last year, we lost a bunch of close games - a lot of times by one goal, in the final minutes," said Martinez, a former Hoosick Falls Central School Panther. "This year, we’ve got more mentally fit players, guys who are willing to work harder. I think we’ll be able to compete with anybody."