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<!SMITH>July 21, 1997
Men's Soccer Moves Onward and Upward
PALO ALTO, Calif. - With a winning attitude in place and a solid foundation from which togrow, the '97 Cardinal squad heads into the new season ready to servenotice that they are a force to be reckoned with on the national scene, notonly this season, but for years to come. Sparking this newfound confidenceis the return of eight starters, including the top six scorers from lastyear's squad, a stellar recruiting class and one of the finest and mostrespected coaches in the collegiate ranks.
Orchestrating the Cardinal rise to national prominence issecond-year head coach Bobby Clark. An instant success in his initialseason on The Farm, Clark took a program coming off three consecutivelosing seasons and one which had posted just four winning seasons in theprevious 10 years, and directed it to a 10-4-4 record and postseasonconsideration.
"The objective entering last season was to get a winning season,"said Clark. "I think we were perhaps a little surprised that the team didso well. There was a tremendous amount of desire, team play and hard work. It really was an outstanding effort on the part of the team. These arethings that we are not going to get complacent on. We have got to rememberthis coming season that the success we achieved last year came from theeffort."
Hard work and team play have been the trademarks of Clark-ledsquads throughout his career and the Cardinal have embraced it wholeheartedly. With the philosophy in place, along with the fact that when theseason begins the majority of the players will have had 17 months to learnand absorb his system, the foundation has been laid and the growth begins.
With 15 letterwinners returning, including eight starters, thegrowth process should be a quick one. Versatility and experience dot theCardinal roster in the field, with only the goalkeeper position lackingvaluable match experience. Junior Grant Brown and redshirt-freshmen BobbyRandolph and Adam Zapala will vie for the starting nod in goal, with onlyBrown, who saw action in three contests last season, having stepped on thecollegiate field. Despite the lack of experience, Clark is very confidentin the three players. Brown turned in a fine spring performance and bothRandolph and Zapala boast exceptional credentials at the high school andclub levels and each have had a year in which to mature and fine-tune theirskills.
"Brown saw most of the action in spring and did a fine job," saidClark. "He's definitely staking a claim to the position, but withoutquestion, Randolph and Zapala are now in the mix. We certainly have goodcover at the position."
There is no lack of experience in the back line, which will beanchored by senior co-captain Daniel Wytock, the only player to start inall 18 matches last season. The defense will also welcome the addition oflast year's leading goal scorer, junior Jamie Clark. Moving back from themidfield where he led the team with 10 goals and tied for the team leadwith 21 points, Clark will play alongside Wytock in the middle. SophomoreGerard Davis returns at right back while junior Eric Vandevelde, who isreturning from a knee injury which sidelined him in '96, shores up the leftside. Adding support will be senior Jason Roeder, sophomore Andy Hemmerichand redshirt-freshman Chris Gores. Hemmerich and Gores provide theCardinal with a wide variety of combinations with their versatility. Hemmerich, who is coming off a standout freshman season, can lend supportin the middle as well as anywhere along the left flank while Gores canspell relief anywhere along the back line.
"We look to be very strong in the backfield," said Clark. "Wehave a good deal of depth at the position. It might be a little bitstrange moving your top scorer from a year ago back into the defense, butJamie (Clark) has a good idea of what he is doing and he would give thedefense a bit of creativity."
The same can be said for the midfield, where three startersreturn. Expected to be the general in the middle of the field will bejunior Shan Gaw, who despite missing five matches last season due toinjury, contributed four goals, the fifth-highest total on the team, andone assist. Complementing Gaw in the middle will be junior Simon Elliott,a transfer from Victoria University in New Zealand. A member of the NewZealand Olympic team and a former player of Clark's on the Kiwi Nationalteam, Elliott has played at the highest level and his talent and experienceshould make an immediate impact on the Cardinal program. Gaw and Elliottwill be flanked by junior Aaron Jones on the right and senior Erik Morrisonon the left. Providing depth to an already exceptional midline will besophomore T.K. Inbody, who could see action anywhere along the line, andsenior Jeff Szekeres.
"We have an exceptionally strong group here," said Clark. "Jonesand Morrison both did a great job last year. Both are two-footed and canplay either side, giving us a lot of variety there. Add to that thestrength of Vandevelde, Davis and Hemmerich, all of which can come up theflank, and we're very strong in the wide areas. Shan's a first-classplayer technically and he is so much better now than he has ever been. Wealso get good depth from Inbody, a very, very fine player who can assumeany position on the line."
Up front, the Cardinal returns two of its most prolific playmakersin juniors A.J. Sauer and Adam Siegman. Sauer, also designated a teamco-captain for '97, accounted for nine goals and three assists last season,both career-highs. His 21 points tied him for the team lead. Siegmanadded five goals and three assists, also career-highs. Providing depthwill be sophomore Brandon Garinger, who turned in a solid freshman year,tallying two goals and one assist in limited action.
"Siegman and Sauer form an excellent combo with the hard runningand the work of Siegman and the craft and tremendous scoring ability ofSauer," said Clark. "Both provide a lot of firepower."
Complementing a solid returning class will be possibly Clark'sfinest recruiting class in his 10 years at the collegiate level. Inaddition to Elliott, the class includes midfielders Scott Leber, Matt Mosesand Sean Sylvis and forwards Luke Rust and Corey Woolfolk. All five cometo The Farm with impressive credentials, including two with statePlayer-of-the-Year honors: Woolfolk (Michigan) and Leber (Arizona-twice).
"I don't know when I've been happier with a recruiting class,"said Clark. "Getting Elliott was a bonus. He is a very special player. Ithink all of the freshman can contribute right away and gives us the depththat we didn't have last season. Each of them are tremendousstudent-athletes and their arrival is not only very exciting for me, butfor the program and university as well."
With the foundation in place, the talent pool growingever-stronger and with Clark at the helm, the Cardinal program is movingonward and upward.