New Coach Brings New Attitude

Heading into the 2013 season, this year’s version of the Harvard men’s soccer team looks a lot like last year’s. The team, which opens Friday against Iona, graduated only four seniors and brings back two of its top three goalscorers, both goalkeepers, and the team’s assists leader.

However, while the team on the field—especially the defense—has stayed mostly intact, the team has a new coach patrolling the sidelines. According to senior defender Ross Friedman, it is the new coach, Pieter Lehrer, who has made all the difference on a team of returning players.

“We have the same guys, but this is a completely different soccer team,” Friedman said. “We are playing at a higher level, and mentally and physically, we are more prepared than we have ever been. As a unit, we are all on the same page, and we are playing completely different. We are going to be coming into the new season with a renewed focus, and we will come out flying.”

Immediately after arriving to campus last April, senior midfielder Kevin Harrington said that Lehrer has changed the entire atmosphere of the program, which has found itself mired in three straight losing seasons. Friedman said that Lehrer, who was previously an assistant coach at California, has brought his imprint to the team while simultaneously being receptive to player input.

“Coach has come in and really imposed himself on our program,” Friedman said. “He has made changes his way, and he has given the players a lot of freedom to express themselves, and it’s been great, the way that he has accepted the role openly. He has given everyone a say on how we are going to run the team.”

Lehrer has put a focus on implementing a defense-first mentality. During practice, Friedman said, the team has worked repeatedly on how to neutralize the strengths of opposing offenses—pressuring outside backs and attacking offenses at their weakest link. According to the senior defenseman, the team hopes to dictate the flow of the game with the pressure they provide on defense.

“The defending and our pressure are everything,” Friedman said. “Where we are on the field and how we are going to play teams is key. When we are playing solid defense and defending at such a high level the entire game, it’ll be tough [to score on us]. That is something that we are working on and has been a stress for Coach Lehrer since I got on campus.”

Once the defensive style of play is established, Harrington said, the team can move forward in implementing more aggressive counterattacking offensive strategies when the opposing defense finds itself off balance.

But for a team that won only three games last year, and none in the Ivy League, the senior midfielder said that the focus is on winning.

“When our defense is as good as we can get, then we can move on and begin implementing more complex things on the offensive end,” Harrington said.

Harrington said that Lehrer has gotten the entire team to buy into his defensive style of play, which plays to the team’s strengths. The team, according to Harrington, is more committed than it has ever been and has completely bought into the message Lehrer has been preaching.

“Outside of the commitment level—higher than I have ever seen it—I would also say the confidence level is higher than I have ever seen it before,” Harrington said. “I think the team is more unified around that commitment and around the willingness to put in as much effort as we possibly can into the season and trying to get as much out of it as we can. With the process going forward that Pieter has implemented, he has everyone buying in 100 percent and committed to doing as well as we can this year.”

Instead of setting larger season goals, the team has focused on taking the season one day at a time. According to Friedman, the team is not thinking ahead to the Ivy League schedule. Its attention is fully on Iona.

“What we focus on is the process,” Friedman said. “While we want to go out and win every game, our team has agreed on focusing on the process as a day-by-day thing. We are focusing on Iona. That’s the only focus right now. After Iona, the next focus is Davidson. We will do everything during and between games to be the best team we can.”

—Staff writer David Freed can be reached at david.freed@thecrimson.com. Follow him on Twitter @CrimsonDPFreed.