A Soccer Goalie's Lonely Life

For a goalie on a powerful offensive squad, the team game of soccer can be an awfully lonely experience.

For Crimson netminder Ben Erulkar, it has been that kind of year, but then, Erulkar is that kind of guy. Not antisocial by any means, but the kind of person who appreciates time to himself.

"It's just a matter of believing in yourself," Erulkar says of the long minutes spent gazing at the action on the far end of the field, "and of being a good friend to yourself. I talk to myself a lot."

The Leverett House junior has developed the concentration necessary for a successful goaltender as well. "I don't react when we score a goal, since it doesn't matter if the other team comes right back." He does add, however, that a big Harvard tally can increase the intensity of his own play.

Erulkar has played a lot of soccer--he started in nursery school at the age of four--and over the years has gained a fine appreciation of the game. "It's an aesthetically beautiful game whether you know a lot about it or not," he says, citing the dynamism and action of the world's most popular sport.

Erulkar hasn't been playing goal for all of his sixteen years of soccer experience. Until his junior year in a Philadelphia high school, in fact, he was a halfback, and only made the switch because his school's regular goalie left the team.

The change turned out to be a fruitful one for all involved--except perhaps the opposing forwards. Erulkar garnered all-League honors in both his junior and senior years, and was voted co-captain of the team his final year.

After playing j.v. his freshman year at Harvard, and splitting his time between varsity and j.v. last year, Erulkar moved up to the varsity full-time this season.

Although he received less than an equal part of playing time during the early part of the slate--dividing the chores with Peter Walsh--an injury to Walsh made Erulkar suddenly very valuable.

He didn't let anybody down, and going into Saturday's season-ending contest with Yale he has played 645 minutes in10 games, giving up seven goals for a .98 goals-against average.

He has recorded on shutout during that span--a beautiful 4-0 victory over Brown--and last Friday turned back 19 shots as the Crimson tied Ivy League leading UPenn in his home town of Philadelphia.

No Argument

In spite of the inherent solitude of the goalie position, Erulkar enjoys the close camraderie of the Harvard squad. "I played squash in high school," he says, "But I didn't like being shut up in a little box with one other person."