(Photo by Nha Ha)
Amber Diller
amberdiller.md@gmail.com
The Cal Poly men’s soccer team is training for the 2013 season and plans to utilize a new style of play, quality incoming players and more training to push past recent records and qualify for the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2008.
Jump-starting the season will be a new formation referred to as “1,4,3,3.” This new style of play was introduced to the team January of last year by head coach Paul Holocher, who was inspired by watching Dutch soccer and FC Barcelona teams use the style.
The formation features three forwards instead of two, three central midfield players, four back defenders and the goal keeper, who has to “really use his feet and possess the goal,” Holocher said.
“The guys are more mature in (the new style),” he said. “They understand it even more and they enjoy it. Going into next year, we want to translate that to getting into the NCAA playoffs.”
The formation is about moving the ball on the ground and getting through the other team, junior midfielder George Malki said.
Malki will be starting his fourth year on the team and also sees big changes coming with the new players starting this fall.
“The incoming freshman class we have coming in is rated one of the top recruiting classes in the nation,” he said. “Once they get here, I think we can be a top team for the next season and break that barrier to get into the tournament.”
There are only seven freshmen joining the team this year, but they have national team experience and are leading goal scorers, Holocher said.
“There are three or four of these guys that will compete to start right away,” he said. “Sometimes they take a year or two to adjust, but we feel that (they) are going to see a lot of time this year.”
Junior forward Mackenzie Pridham has also been on the team since his freshman year, and is looking forward to going into the season more prepared, he said.
“I think one big thing will be the individual player’s preparation during the summer,” he said. “Everyone will be training at a high level.”
Though the NCAA regulates when teams can train during the year, the Mustangs train in some form throughout the year; whether it’s physical development or playing soccer year-round, Holocher said.
Following a summer of training, the team will enter into the season with more games than usual.
“Usually you have (nonconference) games to get your foot in the door, but we decided to boost our overall record for the season by playing more season games,” Pridham said.
This fall, the team is scheduled to travel to Nebraska and play the Creighton Bluejays, a team that was in the final four last season. UCLA is also on the list of competitors.
“These are the top programs in the country and the most highly sought-after players, but we feel like we have a way of playing and now a maturity that hopefully can pull off a couple of these big wins early season,” Holocher said.