The Gang's All Back

It sounds a lot like a coach's dream.

To be exact, it sounds like a very pleasant dream for men's soccer coach George Ford. Only he's not dreaming.

His current squad lost just two regulars from last year's 10-4-1 team, leaving a deep corps of seasoned, talented veterans ready to pick up where it left off.

Back intact is an impressively stingy defensive unit, paced by goaltenders Ben Erulkar and Peter Walsh, who split the net chores about evenly last year, with about equal effectiveness.

Back also is most of the Crimson's multitalented midfield--with the notable exception of Michael Smith, who earned All-Ivy honors last season and is currently with the Denver franchise of the Major Indoor Soccer League.

Rounding out the returnees from last year's side is a group of forwards--led by first-team All-Ivy wing Mauro Keller-Sarmiento and striker Lance Ayrault--that proved surprisingly explosive for much of the 1980 campaign

And that's not all. Rejoining the team are Mike Mogollon and Alberto Villar, two skilled forwards who played in 1979 but missed last season for personal reasons. Their return should allow Ford to pack more firepower up front, providing a scoring punch that, although usually effective, was lacking last year.

The abundance of talent on the front line means the Crimson will open the season against MIT with an experimental collapsing 4-2-4 alignment. Under this setup, Keller-Sarmiento, Mogollon, Ayrault and Villar will range the offensive zone, back up by starting midfielders Leo Lanzillo and Frank RiCapito.

Keller-Sarmiento and Villar, both quick and good with the ball, will cruise the wings, falling back to midfield slots when the Crimson is on defense. This collapses the 4-2-4. Both players should be comfortable in this transition role.

Keller-Sarmiento--in spite of a declining point total from 1979 (two goals, six assists for eight points)--spurred the offense last year, freeing the area in front of the nets by frequently drawing two or even three defenders to himself as he streaked down the side of the field. Ayrault was the usual beneficiary of these moves and responded by dumping a team-high 12 goals into the net. With Villar complementing Keller-Sarmiento on the left wing, Ayrault and Mogollon should get plenty of chances this year.

"Villar is one of the few natural left-wingers you're likely to find in this league," Ford said recently. "He has exceptional ball skills, and is especially effective in what we call one versus one situations. He is capable of taking the ball from the midline to the goal-line and putting it across."

Although Ford will go with the 4-2-4 as long as possible, and even hopes to allow the wings to stay up front full-time, a less fluid 4-3-3 is always available. In this case, Keller-Sarmiento will switch to the center-halfback position, maintaining the offensive threat but providing an additional measure of control at midfield.

Depending on the situation, Ford may use several players in relatively uncustomary positions. For instance, in physical contests--against teams like Boston University, Princeton or Dartmouth--the Crimson mentor may pull Villar or Keller-Sarmiento in favor of more assertive forwards.

One move would be Lanzillo to a striker slot, and Ford will use reserves extensively in this and other situations. "In physical games, we wouldn't want to sacrifice good ballplayers who aren't aggressive as such," Ford said. So spectators will see the likes of Leighton Welch in place of Villar or RiCapito. An often beserk Richard Berkman can get physical as well and will see lots of action, as will midfielder John Lyons.

Lyons, in fact, may well get the nod at center-half when Ford goes to the 4-3-3. "Without Michael Smith, we need someone with a kamikaze instinct," Ford said. "Lyons may be it."

Although it is still early to pronounce final judgment on the club's chances, Ford remains pleased with the versatility of his forwards and midfielders. "All these players are capable of moving around to several positions," he added.

Ford will generally not employ the 4-4-2 alignment, prevalent much of last year. With the increased offensive firepower there is no need to hang back at midfield, sending just two forwards up front. With that alignment last year, the Crimson lacked a smooth transition from defense to the attack.

One of the most pleasant surprises of the Crimson pre-season training camp (held earlier this month at Prince George's Academy in Newport, R.I.) was reserve wing Steve Higginson. Reporting in top physical shape, the lightning-quick offensive threat is "looking like dynamite," said Ford. "He obviously worked very, very hard over the summer; there is no comparison with last year." Higginson will alternate with Keller-Sarmiento.

If last year was any indication, the club's defense may well salvage games in which the offense falters. Based on a string of previous campaigns, Crimson fans can expect at least a few of those.

Barring injuries, four returning starters should dominate both playing time and their own turn in front of the Crimson net. Senior captain John Duggan leads the troops from the stopper position, with sweeper Peter Sergienko clearing the ball away from the goal. Wingback Andreas Keller-Sarmiento (Mauro's younger brother) and Dennis Perese are slated to flank Duggan and Sergienko.

The younger--but still not the youngest; there's another one on the squad--Keller-Sarmiento started about half of last year's contests, but returned to camp "strong as an ox. He put on weight in all the right areas and got stronger. He's a natural for the (left fullback) position."

Like last year when the Crimson held opponents to well under two goals a game, the defensive quartet whould dispatch their duties quietly and efficiently. Duggan is both the physical and emotional leader of the squad, and over the course of last year developed into the defensive enforcer any successful team needs, especially in the defense-minded Ivy League.

The last line of defense is ultimately the goaltending corps, manned for the Crimson by Erulkar and Walsh. Behind that duo, Phil Coogan may see some limited action. Walsh started out last season as Ford's number one netminder, but injuries to Walsh and some consistently superb play by Erulkar--who started at season's end and posted a 0.98 goals against average--reversed the situation. "Erulkar might have the job right now," Ford said. "He sees himself as a number one goaltender. He has that confidence."

Pushing both seniors may be freshman Gary Schermahoran (Billerica), selected as a high school all-American for his play last year. But Ford cautions that any freshman may have difficulty breaking into the 18-man varsity squad, in spite of a moderately successful recruiting year that included the youngest of three Keller-Sarmientos, Pablo.

For the first time in years, the Crimson has no obvious holes to fill with unknowns or inexperienced players. Still, no one is anticipating--or at least predicting--an Ivy title or an NCAA tournament berth.

Should Ayrault or Mogollon fail to come through with the points, or should the defense falter, the Crimson could fall in an incredibly competitive Ivy League. No team holds a clear edge as a pre-season favorite, although many are pencilling Princeton into the top spot (see sidebar).

Changes in the Harvard schedule could also discourage the Crimson's playoff hopes. For the first time, the squad is part of the Greater Boston circuit, meaning it will take on powers like B.U. and B.C., and Tufts, MIT and Brandeis. National power U.Conn. has been dropped from the slate, along with Williams and Amherst. But the scheduling people more than made up for that by pitting the Crimson against tournament-bound Hartwick, and U.R.I. and UMass.

The B.U.-Harvard match-up is potentially interesting, as the Terriers nosed out the Crimson for the eighth and final regional playoff spot last year. Still, an air of optimism pervaded the Harvard camp last week. "I think we're going to go after it," Ford said, "and barring injuries we should be right up there."

He may not be dreaming. Wait and see.