State of the Marauders: Men's soccer making the best of unique situations
9/4/2020 11:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer
MILLERSVILLE, Pa. - The 2020 men's soccer season was supposed to be unique due to it being the 60th anniversary of the program. The season was supposed to be unique because of the program's pursuit of a third consecutive PSAC championship and a sixth straight season of at least 10 victories. Unfortunately, the COVID-19 pandemic has made it unique for other, less positive reasons. The decision to postpone fall sports in the PSAC was made in mid-July with coaches and players having to adjust accordingly. Steve Widdowson, entering his 14th season as head coach of the Marauders, must now prepare his team for the potential of an abbreviated spring season in addition to limited team training opportunities in the fall.
"I feel happy about being able to organize, being able to plan, and having a direction," said Widdowson. "I know it could change at any point, but I've been talking to my guys from day one about that. The most important thing is we have to be flexible, agile, adaptable, and ready to adjust."
In addition to the players transitioning to online environments for academics, they have had to take training and improving physically into their own hands. The coaching staff has been able to give guidance but it has taken initiative and commitment from each individual to get the most out of their time at home.
"I trust my guys 100% and trusted that they would do the work," said Widdowson. "Instead of coming in and basically having two weeks of preseason, we basically have a six-month preseason now. We can really take our time, change our emphasis and focus, and go a little bit more in-depth with things."
A focus on academics has also been a key component of the time spent in quarantine. The team instituted a mentorship program over the summer such that every new player had a returning player to act as a mentor to help them get settled, take care of tasks, and turn to if there was a problem.
"We've been talking for several months about developing a community of learning where everybody helps everybody out," said Widdowson. "Our objective is to get a really tight-knit team and it's about building and forging those relationships. I think everyone is in a really good place and buying into what we're trying to achieve."
On the pitch, the Marauders will once again have to evolve. The loss of the team's three seniors from last season will certainly be felt; Jake Gosselin (a team-high 12 goals), Darian McCauley (one of the most decorated goalkeepers in program history), and Ethan Woods (the only player to start all 21 games) were each critical down the stretch in 2019. 11 different Marauders scored at least one goal last season, so there should once again be threats coming from every angle. Sophomores Bob Hennessey and Frank Astarita lead all returners with four goals scored each. Senior Matteo Adiletta (four goals) and junior Spencer Shortt (three) are also quite capable of putting the ball into the back of the net as well as setting up teammates to score. The other two seniors on the 2020 roster (center back Nathan Maynard and midfielder Nik Provazzo) should help anchor those two areas of the pitch. The team's 12 incoming players could have plenty of opportunities to see game action and excel, but the focus right now is on making sure they are a great fit for the team's values over any sort of tactical gameplan.
"Right now we're evaluating who they are, not necessarily what type of player they are," said Widdowson. "To us as a program, we've spent the last few years really working on solidifying our culture. We really honed in with our core values of passion, discipline, and ambition. We've been laying those foundations and we want to find the right people. You're being judged right now about who you are, how you take care of your tasks, and how you go about your business. At the end of the day, if you're not quite ready to have an impact for us out on the field, we've got time to improve that. If you're the right person we will give you the benefit of the doubt on the athletic side of things. It's harder to give players the benefit of the doubt when they're the wrong person."
To support those efforts the team also created three team core values for the 2020-2021 season—to learn, enjoy, and develop.
"If we can learn as much as possible as people and players that will put us into a good place," said Widdowson. "With everything going on right now, we said there's not a lot to enjoy—so let's try to make sure that when we're together that we enjoy ourselves, enjoy the work, and enjoy the opportunities we have right now that we might not have potentially had. Development is obviously the big thing. We've got all this time to develop people, the culture, and the program. That's a big thing we're getting across with these players over the last three months, certainly, and then certainly in the next three months as well."
Millersville University is one of the PSAC institutions that will allow athletic teams to resume practicing in addition to strength and conditioning training on a very strict and limited basis. The men's soccer squad will take full advantage of this in preparation for the possibility of competing in the spring.
"The excitement is we've got the potential to do that, but we understand it is only potential right now," said Widdowson. "We will work and we will put the effort in as much as we possibly can until finally somebody says we're not going to play. But until that point comes, we're working full-fledged to go out there and do everything that we can to continue the successes that we've had. We're doing a ton of different things. It's a different style of training with the small groups. There's no point moaning about it. Let's just enjoy the opportunity we have."
"I feel happy about being able to organize, being able to plan, and having a direction," said Widdowson. "I know it could change at any point, but I've been talking to my guys from day one about that. The most important thing is we have to be flexible, agile, adaptable, and ready to adjust."
In addition to the players transitioning to online environments for academics, they have had to take training and improving physically into their own hands. The coaching staff has been able to give guidance but it has taken initiative and commitment from each individual to get the most out of their time at home.
"I trust my guys 100% and trusted that they would do the work," said Widdowson. "Instead of coming in and basically having two weeks of preseason, we basically have a six-month preseason now. We can really take our time, change our emphasis and focus, and go a little bit more in-depth with things."
A focus on academics has also been a key component of the time spent in quarantine. The team instituted a mentorship program over the summer such that every new player had a returning player to act as a mentor to help them get settled, take care of tasks, and turn to if there was a problem.
"We've been talking for several months about developing a community of learning where everybody helps everybody out," said Widdowson. "Our objective is to get a really tight-knit team and it's about building and forging those relationships. I think everyone is in a really good place and buying into what we're trying to achieve."
On the pitch, the Marauders will once again have to evolve. The loss of the team's three seniors from last season will certainly be felt; Jake Gosselin (a team-high 12 goals), Darian McCauley (one of the most decorated goalkeepers in program history), and Ethan Woods (the only player to start all 21 games) were each critical down the stretch in 2019. 11 different Marauders scored at least one goal last season, so there should once again be threats coming from every angle. Sophomores Bob Hennessey and Frank Astarita lead all returners with four goals scored each. Senior Matteo Adiletta (four goals) and junior Spencer Shortt (three) are also quite capable of putting the ball into the back of the net as well as setting up teammates to score. The other two seniors on the 2020 roster (center back Nathan Maynard and midfielder Nik Provazzo) should help anchor those two areas of the pitch. The team's 12 incoming players could have plenty of opportunities to see game action and excel, but the focus right now is on making sure they are a great fit for the team's values over any sort of tactical gameplan.
"Right now we're evaluating who they are, not necessarily what type of player they are," said Widdowson. "To us as a program, we've spent the last few years really working on solidifying our culture. We really honed in with our core values of passion, discipline, and ambition. We've been laying those foundations and we want to find the right people. You're being judged right now about who you are, how you take care of your tasks, and how you go about your business. At the end of the day, if you're not quite ready to have an impact for us out on the field, we've got time to improve that. If you're the right person we will give you the benefit of the doubt on the athletic side of things. It's harder to give players the benefit of the doubt when they're the wrong person."
To support those efforts the team also created three team core values for the 2020-2021 season—to learn, enjoy, and develop.
"If we can learn as much as possible as people and players that will put us into a good place," said Widdowson. "With everything going on right now, we said there's not a lot to enjoy—so let's try to make sure that when we're together that we enjoy ourselves, enjoy the work, and enjoy the opportunities we have right now that we might not have potentially had. Development is obviously the big thing. We've got all this time to develop people, the culture, and the program. That's a big thing we're getting across with these players over the last three months, certainly, and then certainly in the next three months as well."
Millersville University is one of the PSAC institutions that will allow athletic teams to resume practicing in addition to strength and conditioning training on a very strict and limited basis. The men's soccer squad will take full advantage of this in preparation for the possibility of competing in the spring.
"The excitement is we've got the potential to do that, but we understand it is only potential right now," said Widdowson. "We will work and we will put the effort in as much as we possibly can until finally somebody says we're not going to play. But until that point comes, we're working full-fledged to go out there and do everything that we can to continue the successes that we've had. We're doing a ton of different things. It's a different style of training with the small groups. There's no point moaning about it. Let's just enjoy the opportunity we have."
Players Mentioned
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/ Men's SoccerF
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/ Men's SoccerD
/ Men's Soccer
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/ Men's SoccerM
/ Men's SoccerF
/ Men's Soccer
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