2008 Woodie Awards
Midfield machine keeps humming for Hounds
Dave Lomonico
Issue date: 9/2/08 Section: Sports
By Dave Lomonico
Associate Sports Editor
Like an offensive lineman in football or a catcher in baseball, soccer midfielders are the glue that holds the unit together. Underappreciated by casual fans but admired by teammates and coaches, midfielders define ruggedness, cohesion and nuance. They are the pistons that make the machine go.
"The job of the midfield is to link everything together," said sophomore Eddie Dines, one of three returning midfielders for a Loyola men's soccer team that went to the second round of the NCAA tournament a year ago. "Milos [Kocic] is getting the saves in goal, Jamie [Darvill] and Phil [Bannister] are scoring, but we don't mind not being in the limelight. We keep our heads down and do the work."
Dines, Danny Ankrah and Mike Deasel were freshmen in 2007, hungry and ready to prove they could play Division I soccer. What started as a major question mark for the surprising Greyhounds turned into a position of strength. It became a unit that played beyond its years, a cog for a team that went 19-4 and came within a few penalty kicks of upsetting powerhouse Maryland in the NCAA tournament. Now those three freshmen are a year older, and the question becomes: Will they get even better or will they succumb to the sophomore slump?
"We should be able to dominate the midfield," Dines said. "Last year everything was new - we were still getting used to the position - but now we have a connection and we know where each other is going to be."
Deasel also deflected any thoughts of a slump.
"We're not going to be happy or satisfied," Deasel said. "Every time we step on the field, we're going to play better than the game before."
Still, Mettrick worries about that second-year jinx. Some of it has to do with smug satisfaction, and some of it has to do with opponents' adjustments.
"Just because you've done well your freshman year doesn't mean you're going to do well your sophomore year," Mettrick said. "It really depends on how they [the midfield] use the first year and build on that success.
Associate Sports Editor
Like an offensive lineman in football or a catcher in baseball, soccer midfielders are the glue that holds the unit together. Underappreciated by casual fans but admired by teammates and coaches, midfielders define ruggedness, cohesion and nuance. They are the pistons that make the machine go.
"The job of the midfield is to link everything together," said sophomore Eddie Dines, one of three returning midfielders for a Loyola men's soccer team that went to the second round of the NCAA tournament a year ago. "Milos [Kocic] is getting the saves in goal, Jamie [Darvill] and Phil [Bannister] are scoring, but we don't mind not being in the limelight. We keep our heads down and do the work."
Dines, Danny Ankrah and Mike Deasel were freshmen in 2007, hungry and ready to prove they could play Division I soccer. What started as a major question mark for the surprising Greyhounds turned into a position of strength. It became a unit that played beyond its years, a cog for a team that went 19-4 and came within a few penalty kicks of upsetting powerhouse Maryland in the NCAA tournament. Now those three freshmen are a year older, and the question becomes: Will they get even better or will they succumb to the sophomore slump?
"We should be able to dominate the midfield," Dines said. "Last year everything was new - we were still getting used to the position - but now we have a connection and we know where each other is going to be."
Deasel also deflected any thoughts of a slump.
"We're not going to be happy or satisfied," Deasel said. "Every time we step on the field, we're going to play better than the game before."
Still, Mettrick worries about that second-year jinx. Some of it has to do with smug satisfaction, and some of it has to do with opponents' adjustments.
"Just because you've done well your freshman year doesn't mean you're going to do well your sophomore year," Mettrick said. "It really depends on how they [the midfield] use the first year and build on that success.
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