Suffolk University men’s soccer returns to the field this week looking to bounce back from last season’s heartbreaking Commonwealth Coast Conference championship semifinals loss.
Suffolk inspired hope last season by coming back from a 0-2 deficit to Western New England, tying the game up with less than a minute left in regulation play. The Rams’ season ended during a close penalty kick shootout, leaving players hungry to take their game to the next level this season.
“It’s championship or bust this year. Anything besides a championship is honestly a failure to me,” said co-captain Taj Jensen.
Many players on the team share a similar perspective, as Jensen noted that the team unanimously agreed that their goal was to win it all this season.
“We set goals at the beginning of the season and every single person wrote on their sheet they want to win a championship,” said Jensen.
Suffolk comes into the season with a very experienced team, with many players returning from last year and a relatively small freshman class.
Though the freshman class this season is small, Jensen said he has been impressed with how the new players have been handling themselves throughout practices and preseason preparations.
“All of the new additions to the team are exactly what we thought they were gonna be. Everyone’s spent a lot of time doing fitness and getting prepared for the season,” said Jensen.
With this being the last year of COVID eligibility for many players across the conference, head coach Bill Maddock noticed a mentality change in some of the players who are going into their last season.
“They’re staying and remaining focused on the small things, they want to make sure everything is perfect. The biggest difference between last year and this year is the overall mental focus to the smaller details,” said Maddock.
With both team captains, Jensen and Jack Phelps, returning this season, Maddock is confident in their abilities to help lead this team back to the playoffs.
“Last year was the first year of Jack and Taj being captains, and they did a good job for us but they were still developing. Now, having a second year under their belt, it makes them more comfortable in their role and their voice,” said Maddock.
Jensen noted that one of the biggest things he wants to see out of this team this upcoming season is more creativity, especially when it comes to attacking the net.
“I want this group to be more creative in combining into goal-scoring opportunities and showing their ability to take people 1-on-1,” said Jensen.
With the season rapidly approaching, one of the main goals of this team is to improve off its 10-5-4 record from last year and achieve home field advantage throughout the playoffs.
“We need to make sure we have a stronger regular season so we can get a higher seed and secure home playoff games. I think East Boston is a really hard place to play and we draw off the fan energy,” said Jensen.
To help the team win, men’s soccer hopes Suffolk students will come out to support the team during their home games as the support of the community helps these players take their game to the next level.
“I’m very excited about this group, we have a lot of guys who are involved in other areas of the community. Our team’s very diverse, so we’re not just a men’s soccer team, we’re a strong representation of the overall Suffolk community. Hopefully we can get support from the rest of the university at some of our games this year,” said Maddock.
Men’s soccer will begin their 19-game season Aug. 30 with a 3 p.m. home game against Emmanuel College.
