By Christopher Boulay

After the men’s soccer team completed the 5-0 win against Monroe College last week, I had an opportunity to sit down with coaches Shaun Green and Paul Wright and do what we usually do: talk soccer.

As I was preparing information for this week’s men’s soccer preview, the conversation jumped from the team’s NEC title chances, to the English Premier League and to the current state of affairs with former players David Tyrie and Yan Klukowski’s professional soccer careers.

We were talking about the team’s practices and preparing for the upcoming season when Coach Green asked me to join the team at one of their practices this season. Naively, I figured I would show up, take some notes, and write an article about what they did. Green explained to me that he actually wanted me to play with the team, on the same field.

Knowing I have played goalkeeper in the past, he said I could get in net and get a better chance to know the players, helping them become more comfortable around me and vice versa. Many players already know me because of my coverage of the team’s spring season, but many of the new recruits had either never met me, or didn’t know who I was.

I reluctantly accepted, thinking that Coach Green might be playing a bit of a joke on me to have some of the players take target practice while I stood helpless in the net, trying to avoid round, inflated death flying at me.

I didn’t play in high school. I actually tried out and was cut my sophomore year. The most organized soccer I have played since I was about 12 was playing with a bunch of high school and college kids back home last summer. Basically, I was in over my head.

The Recorder‘s Editor-in-Chief and Photo Editor tagged along to document my questionable decision to act as a target for one of the conference’s highest scoring team; not so secretly hoping I was going to get left out to dry on the pitch. I got my boots and gloves while Coach Green introduced me to the team, stating that I would be practicing in net for a day. That, and he also decided to make it clear that I was a Liverpool fan, something that made the whole team laugh except for freshman Xavier Forsberg, who seemed quite receptive to my mindless support of the English club.

Practice started off with a couple laps and thinking, “Is Coach Green just going to make me run endlessly for three hours?” Injured players on the sideline placed their bets on how long I would last as I tried to keep up with kids who run for 90 minutes at a time. The average was a lap and a half.

Luckily, this wasn’t the case. After the quick jog and stretch, Green sent me over to Goalkeeping coach Christian Benjamin, for some drills with starting keeper Paul Armstrong and freshman Anthony Occhialini.

Benjamin would later inform me that the drills that we did that night were more of a light workout, slightly deflating my ego, but after thinking about it, it made sense. We started out with a simple sliding drill, where the object was to cover up the ball before the offense gets to it. After that, Coach Benjamin conducted a drill with Senior Persis Oware involving some quick passing and shots on net, where the two (real) keepers and I would try to make a save.

One thing that stood out was the constant coaching that was going on around me. It was not only by the coaching staff, either. Armstrong and Occhialini both were giving me and each other pointers, and it paid off, as I did make a couple of picturesque stops.

Apparently I wasn’t doing too bad when Coach Green joked, “Hey Chris, do you have any eligibility left?” I knew he was kidding, but it helped my ego a bit.

After another drill, I was told that the team takes part in a scrimmage during practice, and I would be starting the first part of it in net. This was the real reason that I agreed to be put through this. Being one who craves competition, this was a perfect opportunity to either shock some people, or get completely embarrassed. I ended up making a couple of solid saves, but I did give up one goal. Luckily, the goal was to freshman striker Taylor Morgan. I don’t think it will be too hard to tell people that a kid who scored in London’s Wembley Stadium, arguably soccer’s Mecca, put one by my left side just inside the right post.

Soon after the goal, I was switched out for Armstrong, and was able to take a much-needed rest and get to watch some of the practice while going over some tactics with Coach Benjamin.

The last part of the practice ended up being the most fun. I love high-pressure situations when playing sports, and this drill was just that. Players lined up on the end line passing the ball up to the top of the 18-yard box, where one would get two touches to set the ball and strike it. This was a very high-energy drill and the only thing that was disappointing about it is that some of the players’ shots were blocked by the quasi-defense. At that point, I wanted as many shots on net as possible. I think I did okay, but Armstrong and Occhialini definitely showed me up, but I think I stood my ground overall.

In the end, I was congratulated for my efforts by many of the players, namely by Connor Smith and Mersad Sahanic, which Sahanic added, “You are going to sleep like a baby tonight.” He was right; I slept like a rock, but unfortunately couldn’t move the next day. I guess this was to be expected.

To practice with a squad that I cover quite frequently was an honor to say the least. I had a taste of what they deal with on a daily basis. While I have never played on the same field with players of that caliber, and to get the opportunity was not only a learning experience, it was one of the most fun sporting events I have ever taken part in. My place may be on the sidelines, but it is great to dust off the cleats and get out there, especially when an opportunity like this comes along.