Southampton Graduate Campus Men's Soccer Ranked No. 19 in National Pre-Season Poll
New Coach Leads Veteran Team That Won Back- to-Back Titles
A pre-season poll ranks the Southampton Graduate Campus men's soccer team No. 19 in the country in NCAA Division II. And, returning the Colonials' top scorers and defenders this year, new coach Patrick Horne envisions the team doing even better.
Ranked as high as No. 3 in the nation last year, the Colonials stumbled to a 4-3-1 start that saw them drop out of the top 25. However, the team rebounded with a 10-game unbeaten streak that led to Southampton Graduate Campus' second consecutive New York Collegiate Athletic Conference crown. The Colonials had gone to the NCAA Tournament in 1999, but narrowly missed a repeat berth in 2000. Controversially, a selection committee chose NYCAC runner-up Dowling College, who Southampton had beaten in the regular season, ahead of the Colonials. The team finished 2000 with a 13-3-2, 7-0-1 NYCAC record.
The preseason poll, sponsored by the sport's governing body, the National Soccer Coaches Association of America, and adidas puts the Colonials at No. 19 entering this season after being ranked No. 19 at the end of last season. The Colonials open the year away at Bentley on September 1 then go to Merrimack the next day. Southampton Graduate Campus' home opener is Saturday, September 8, at 1 p.m. vs. East Stroudsburg University, a team that is ranked No. 3 in the pre-season poll.
"We have to come into these games with a high level of intensity and beat the teams ahead of us to move up in the polls," said Horne, who is confident the Colonials will continue playing championship-caliber soccer.
As a head coach at Division III SUNY-Old Westbury, Horne took over a team that was 5-11 in 1997. In 1998, the Panthers went 11-5-2, and in the past two seasons Old Westbury has won league titles. Last year, the Panthers were 7-0 in Hudson Valley Men's Athletic Conference play and 12-5-3 overall. Horne played in the now-defunct North American Soccer league that featured Pele.
The new coach inherits most of the components of last year's championship team with one major exception. While dazzling scorer Peter Nilsson (18 goals) returns, the team loses All-American goalie Roger Svensson to graduation. However, Svensson will be on the sideline as goalie coach.
Nilsson was named to the NYCAC all-star team last year and league Rookie of the Year. "He seems like the kind of guy who can score even if he only has a quarter of a chance," Horne said.
Other NYCAC all-stars returning are senior captain Andreas Lindberg (12 goals), a midfielder who is known for his clutch scores in key games including one against CW Post late last year that kept Southampton undefeated and in title contention, speedy and stifling sophomore defenseman Ragnar Arnarson and rugged senior midfielder Carl Lindgren. Key players also returning include hardworking senior midfielder Staffan Linne, sophomore defender Victor Vergara, senior midfielder Rocky Flores and sophomore goalie Brian Hilton.
"I've always built teams from the back and intend to field a team with a solid defense first and foremost, while up front we'll have relentless scorers fed by hardworking, unselfish midfielders," Horne said. "I'm really confident that this team will continue its winning tradition."
Last year's Men's Soccer Page
Goalie coach Roger Svensson and head coach Patrick Horne.
Colonial Generals
Patrick Horne enters his first season with the Colonials. At Division III SUNY-Old Westbury, Horne took over a team that was 5-11 in 1997. In 1998, the Panthers went 11-5-2, and in the past two seasons Old Westbury has won league titles. Last year, the Panthers were 7-0 in Hudson Valley Men's Athletic Conference play and 12-5-3 overall. Horne is 30-19-7 as a college head coach.
Horne, who played in the now-defunct North American Soccer league that featured Pele, was born in St. Vincent in the Caribbean and raised in Brooklyn. He currently resides in Baldwin, NY, with wife Joan and children Jason, 14, and Lindsey, 9. He received a BA in Mass Communications from Southern Illinois University and has written a weekly cricket column for Newsday since 1985. He also teaches English at Virgil I. Grissom Middle School in South Ozone Park, NY, and has coached Long Island Junior Soccer League under-17 select boys teams.
Mark Dawson, a 1996 alumnus of Southampton, begins his sixth season as assistant coach. In the summer of 1998, he was named head coach for Lady Colonials soccer. From 1992-94, he played midfield for the Colonials, and was a starter for the 1994 championship team. Dawson lives in Mastic.
Horne’s longtime colleague, new assistant coach Don Haynes also teaches at Grissom, where he is also a coach.
Roger Svensson of Solvesborg, Sweden, is a first-year goalie coach. Named All-American last season, he was an imposing starting goalie for four years for the Colonials as the team reached national notoriety.
Captains: Rocky Flores, Andreas Lindberg and Peter Nilsson..
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