Press Releases

Dec 11, 2002
Swede Sensation: Southampton College's Nordic Connection Continues

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By Darren Johnson BA '92, MFA '02

With the hiring of former Colonial all-star and captain and Swedish national Andreas Lindberg as head soccer coach this fall, Southampton College's pipeline that recruits top Nordic talent should continue for years to come.

Ed Goodhines in 1999 after the Colonials went undefeated in the regular season. Current coach Andreas Lindberg is forefront.

This year's men's team boasted nine Swedish players, continuing a trend that began a few years ago that propelled a pretty good program to the next level and into the national spotlight. In 1999, a Colonial team with eight Swedish players including two All Americans -- scorer Johan Kron and goalie Roger Svensson -- went undefeated in the regular season and made it to the quarterfinals of the NCAA tournament before losing in quadruple overtime at Southern Connecticut State. The Colonials were ranked as high as No. 2 in the nation that year. It was the first NCAA appearance for any Colonial team since men's basketball did it in 1972.

And how tiny Southampton College became a hotbed for Swedish soccer is a story that actually began on the Runnin' Colonials basketball courts. Most of you reading this were just toddlers. Heck, I wasn't even a student here yet either.

The College welcomed its first Swedish athlete, John Almroth, in 1986. He was a 6-foot-6, 200-pound forward from Sundsvall. Described by then-coach Bill McGonegal as a "rugged, hardworking, intelligent player," Almroth was counted on for his rebounding ability in a program that had trouble scoring -- and winning.

Almroth was an honors student with a GPA to match, majoring in sociology. He had been recruited by Columbia, Bentley and Queens and paid his Southampton tuition by working summers at a steel mill.

While those were tough years for the Runnin' Colonials, the men's soccer team, under the leadership of then-coach Ed Goodhines was rebuilding. John Almroth told his brother Bjorn, a talented soccer forward, about Southampton -- a quiet, seaside college that reminded him of his native Sweden.

Even though he received offers from colleges with better-known soccer programs, Bjorn decided to give Southampton a chance, moving on campus in 1993. He ended up being Southampton's all-time leading scorer at the time with 58 career goals in 66 games. He was named New York Collegiate Athletic Conference Player of the Year in 1996. With Almroth as their leading scorer, the Colonials won back-to-back Eastern College Athletic Conference Division II titles in 1994-95.

Coach Goodhines was on to something and had to act to keep the momentum going. Knowing he was losing Bjorn Almroth to graduation, he intensified his international recruiting. Southampton's all-time winningest coach (114-62-9 as a men's soccer coach with titles also won in women's soccer and softball) found his best recruiting class in 1997. Kron and Mans Selander, both from Floda, Sweden, transferred from Div. III Wilmington (Ohio) College, where Kron was an All American.

There were three other Swedes on the Colonials that season: Frederik Sodersten, Martin Sidenvall and Svensson, the goalie. Svensson would end up being a four-year starter for the Colonials and the bridge between that generation and the current squad.

Svensson, an imposing 6-foot-1, 200-pound import from Solvesborg, Sweden, was known for his aggressive play and drill-sergeant leadership on and off the field. He was a team captain on the Colonials in 1999-2000. He ended the 2000 season allowing just 1.17 goals per game as Southampton went 13-3-2 (7-0-1 NYCAC), narrowly missing an NCAA tournament berth.

He had allowed just .60 goals per game the previous season as the Colonials made it to the NCAA quarterfinals, finishing with a 16-1-2 record. In Svensson's four years with the Colonials, he had an amazing 57-12-6 record and 27.5 shutouts.

Kron, meanwhile, shattered Southampton scoring records, finishing his last season with 22 goals and scoring 60 goals overall in three years. A business major, he graduated in 2000, and the future of the Colonials again seemed bleak.

Then came Peter Nilsson of Goteborg. A two-year transfer, he was a pure scorer on an otherwise defensive-minded Colonial team. His breakaway goal at favored Dowling in 2000 was a work of art and the factor in a 1-0 Southampton win. It led to the Colonials winning the NYCAC title with a 7-0-1 record. Southampton should have then gotten its second-straight NCAA berth but didn't. A loophole in the rules and a stacked coaches poll substituted Dowling, instead, and the Colonials' season ended abruptly.

Goodhines, who graduated in 1982 after playing for the Colonials and then had spent his whole adult life at his alma mater, was heartbroken by the decision. His team had been similarly shortchanged in 1998 after going 15-2-1. Saying he accomplished all he could as a coach, he packed up for Virginia, where he met his fiance and teaches at a prep school.

In 2001, under one-time coach Patrick Horne, the Colonials ended 11-5-2, making it back to the ECAC playoffs. The team was without Svensson, who served that year as a goalie coach even though he told me he wanted to play more than watch -- and Nilsson was ending his career with a record-breaking 26-goal season. A "virtual" Peter Nilsson was featured in PlayStation's FIFA 2002 video game as a member of the Swedish National Team. With Lindberg taking over as coach in 2002, the Colonials went 7-2 in the NYCAC, sharing a league title with NYIT and Dowling.

Times weren't always rosy. When the Swedes started coming in large numbers, American players on the team felt like they were being forced out, and Goodhines' diplomacy skills were tested. During the NCAA Tournament opener in 1999, East Stroudsburg fans visited Southampton and hurled anti-Swedish slurs at the players. But since then, the rest of the NYCAC has followed Southampton's lead and also has promoted a mix of foreign and American players.

"Now we're extremely close-knit," said Lindberg of his current squad. "Team spirit is the highest ever."

With Lindberg as coach and chief recruiter, the Swedish pipeline is now part of a larger trend that's bringing players here from all over the world. The 2002 Colonials featured players from six countries and four continents. After a shaky start this season without key players, Southampton made it to the ECAC title game, losing a 4-4 (4-2 on penalty strokes) squeaker to Bridgeport.

There have been some positive side effects of the Swedish invasion. Women's soccer has caught the wave and has six Swedes on the team. The Swedish soccer players also grew up playing tennis and fill our spring rosters in that sport. Last year, Lindberg and Andreas Nilsson became Southampton's first three-sport athletes in a generation as they also played on the lacrosse team.

Why do the Swedish players choose and thrive at Southampton?

"Like here [in the Hamptons], Sweden is a laid-back country," Goodhines told me. He's in weekly contact with his former players and attends events in Sweden regularly; including Bjorn Almroth's wedding a couple of years ago.

But while the Swedes like Southampton's rustic setting, they also like its proximity to the big city. "They love New York City," added Goodhines. "They've been to New York more times than I have."

Goodhines said his Swedish players aren't as rough as American players because Europe has larger and better-groomed fields, promoting passing and teamwork. "The Swedes play with a lot of finesse, and elevate everyone's level," the former coach said. Also, Swedes are required to do two years of military service at home before they can go to college, so the players who come here are older and more mature.

But they also like to have a good time. When they aren't traveling, many of them have lived together in a house in Hampton Bays that has been well known among Southampton College students. "The Swedes have adapted well and really fit in," Goodhines said.

"All the Swedes have been everywhere. We do everything," Svensson told me in 1999. "We go to the city and party, we go to house parties, we travel all over. Everything."