August 25, 2018
Saint 4 Years, Saint 4 Life - Part 4
Senior Year
By Mani Tafari
Senior Year
Football is life. In football, the only way to maximize one's potential is to improve weaknesses while capitalizing on the things you naturally do well. The same is true in life.
The Fresh People
Watching, analyzing and taking a measure of the incoming freshmen is the most interesting part of any preseason. As defending champs, the SLU squad was a very difficult one to break into. Two players succeeded in 2000. Flubber was a skillful player who was not a physical specimen. When he was not sleeping or dozed off, he was an extremely talented and mercurial player who played and thought outside the box constantly.
Bunny was a stud. This future Saint captain was college ready his first day of pre-season training, He hit me hard on the shins the first day of preseason and did not apologize, he was there to play soccer and not make friends, I took to him immediately.
The Seniors
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As the 2000 season approached, the seniors on Saint soccer team had fully completed our transformation from men to machines. We were the leaders of the red army. Over the past three seasons, we had won three conference titles, an ECAC championship, and a National crown. Additionally, we were riding a 42-game unbeaten streak that started our freshman year. We had the confidence of National Champions and the hunger of men who had not yet written their page in the Book of Saints. The class of 2001 had a complete understanding of the Dutch system we employed and the skill and fitness to use it with devastating effect. We had a single-minded commitment to win the final game of our careers and leave SLU as back to back National Champions.
The six of us, Myself (Ababa Jani), Giggs, Bruiser, Pudge, Smooth and Mad Dog had experienced sweat, blood, and tears together and were more like brothers than teammates.
Like brothers, there were plenty of fights. Bruiser and Smooth were the choir boys of the group and were saints on and off the soccer field. The attackers in the class were a bit less reserved. We had legendary fist fights, always followed by hugs and a beer (once we became seniors).
Mad Dog
Mad Dog is the most tenacious player I have ever seen. He hit the ground running as a Saint. Scoring big goals since freshman year, he was once again prolific on our way to winning a National Championship last season. Our personalities were so alike that the University had us arranged to be roommates back in freshman year. On the field our chemistry was unswerving, I always knew where Mad Dog would be and Vice Versa. He could finish with both feet and was outstanding at heading the ball. Like the rest of us, Mad Dog would have to make important sacrifices to help the team defend our Crown.
A lifelong striker since grade school, Mad Dog transformed himself into a sweeper to replace The General who we lost to graduation. His will power was second to none, and he was immediately the best attacking sweeper in the entire league.
Giggs
Giggs was perhaps the golden boy of our class. He was a starter as a freshman joint leading scorer sophomore year and the leading scorer as a junior. Adding to his fairy tale story, Giggs scored the winning goal in the National Championship game and was destined to be the main striker on the team as a senior. The dream came crashing down in pre-season when our golden boy sustained a season ending injury.
It was a big blow for Giggs, who had great expectations for continuing his upward trajectory on the soccer field. It was also a big hit for our team who had lost a very important player.
Giggs was a left winger who played more like a number 9. His technical ability was beneficial in hold up play and his ability to score made him a constant threat to opposing defenders. Giggs would red shirt and begin his preparation for the next season.
Bruiser
Bruiser is the player that one gets by cloning Frank Lampard and Vinnie Jones. He entered St. Lawrence as a central midfielder before earning a starting spot as a stopper freshman year. Soon after Bruiser was the starting left back, a position he held his entire career. The Bruiser continued in his role as left back and assumed the added role of team captain as a senior. He was as technical as he was physical exemplified by the fact that the played the final four with an unknown stress fracture.
Pudge
Pudge was a Maestro. A calm player whose close control and technical ability ensured he was an immediate starter and star on the Saint team. Pudge was a born central midfielder who played that position until Durocher moved him to the right side of midfield as a freshman. Like the Bruiser, Pudge was named captain senior year, and like Mad Dog, he switched his position after three years. He moved from the right to the left of midfield due to injuries to teammates and did not miss a beat. Pudge was a very tidy player, but his true talent was being a nasty defender. He would never give a single inch, and would always thrust an extra knee, shoulder or elbow to his opponent on defense.
Smooth
Smooth was perhaps the most talented player on our team, the league, and the entire country. He was a sweeper in high school but played stopper in our system. His versality and effectiveness on defense allowed us to play a 4-3-3 and a 3-4-3 simultaneously. Despite playing defense Smooth was always among the team’s leading scorers.
He was not the fittest, the most skillful nor did he possess the best vision or shot on the team, but he was among the best in all these categories. This was what made him special. Smooth did not make mistakes when he was in possession of the ball. As we entered senior year, he was already a two time All American and captain of last season’s championship team.
Abba Jani
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I had become the team’s most exciting player. After a lackluster first two seasons, junior year was a revelation. I had discovered my superpower. I was playing soccer at 100 miles per hour and my decisions on the ball were even faster. My main weakness was on the defensive side of the ball, but by senior year we were dominating possession so much that this was no longer a concern.
Last season I was a potent attacking force off the bench, but like the other members of my class, I was ready and eager to assume a greater role. After you win a National Championship, the hunger does not subside; it increases tenfold.
I started every pre-season game and with Repetition on National duty playing in the Azteca stadium in World Cup Qualifiers for St. Vincent and the Grenadines I would also start the first game of the season and the first of my career.
Season Begins
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The Saints started the season with a giant bullseye on our back. The only guarantee was that each team would bring their A game. Starting the season without The General, 2000 and Toto felt strange after playing with these men for the past three years.
Mad Dog was in control. Yelling commands from the back and marshalling the defense we picked up right where we left off in Chicago. A penalty by Smooth saw us off to a victorious start to the season.
Repetition was back for game number two, and he came back with the fire of a man who was playing on a different level. I had maintained my place in the starting team and along with Reps, I was flanking our new dangerous number 9, Big Perm. The team was playing with two pure wingers and several number 10s in central positions.
It was a different team than 1999, the passing game had become even more automatic, and we were playing out of the back even more. One negative was the fact that we were not scoring as many goals. The lack of scoring was mainly a result of teams parking the proverbial bus while hoping to hit us on the counter.
Soccer is war for a minimum of 90 minutes. Teams began to employ a very defensive stance against us, placing ten men behind the ball and daring us to break them down. As a dribbler, this suited me perfectly, and I was able to utilize my speed in breaking down opposing defenses.
After scoring three goals on a mid-season road trip, including a brace at national powerhouse Ithaca and a double overtime winner against Elmira, I had become the team’s most potent offensive weapon.
Two years after failing to make the playoff squad, I was the most dangerous player on the most dangerous team in the country. I was the team leader in goals and assists and playing the game on a psychological level. Being the target man on the Saint team meant that you were also a target for punishment. I was not used to being hit hard by grown men for over 70 minutes each game. By mid season, I was beaten up and in constant pain. I would sit in the locker room before games, kiss my knees and ask them to give me just one more.
My situation was not as bad as some of my fellow teammates. Bruiser was forced to sit out half the season after suffering yet another serious injury as the team lost our enforcer for the past three years. More injuries up top meant that Mad Dog had to abandon his role as team sweeper to once again assist in the striking department. Unlike last season, the team seemed to have a different starting line-up each week due to unforeseen injury conditions
Another Undefeated Season
Despite injuries, internal difficulties and inconsistent line-ups, the Saints entered the final game of the 2000 season one result away from completing three straight undefeated seasons. After a 2-1 victory away at Rochester, the regular season ended undefeated with the Saints sporting a 15-0-2 record. Our two blemishes were to conference foes Skidmore and Vassar, which meant we were 5-0-2 not conference Champions and were not guaranteed an automatic invitation to the dance. That distinction went to a Hamilton team we defeated, but who were 6-1 in conference play nonetheless. My class had failed to win four straight conference titles, but we were ready to defend and maintain our National Championship.
Let’s Dance
Playing in the NCAA’s is a very special feeling. Only the best teams get to participate in the tournament, and as a team, we were hosting for the third time in three years. Entering the playoffs, we were extremely confident but not cocky. We were not scoring as many goals as we were used to but entering the dance we had given up only four goals in seventeen games. The defense was tight, mainly due to strikers who were also tenacious on defense and a combination of the Coach Tosh trained two headed goal keeper combination of B Train and Kennedy.
All Coming Together
A 5-0 opening round win had the team feeing good. We were once again firing on all cylinders. All season we had played stingy defense and with our offense finally clicking we were ready to defend our title.
I had scored my first playoff goal and was ready to lead the team to the promised land once again. We were one win away from playing another Elite 8 game against Messiah. This time it would be at home and our passionate Saint fans, led by La Casa, would surely get us to the Final Four where we would repeat as champions.
Sweet Sixteen
We entered the Sweet Sixteen with a NCAA record 60 game unbeaten streak. We had not lost a game in over three years and were playing at home in front of the best fans in the country. Our opponents were Hamilton.
Hamilton were a very good team and one of the best in the UCAA. In 1999 we were beating this team 3-0 before they staged a come back only to fall short 3-2. Earlier in the season, we had defeated Hamilton 1-0 on their home field courtesy of a Bogie rocket 60 seconds before the end of regulation. This team was angry and was ready for revenge.
We were ready for the challenge and were in attack mode from the opening whistle. This time we were at home and the wind was at our backs. Wave after wave we hit Hamilton with attack after attack. We hit the post, we hit the bar and could not find a break through. After 15 minutes, I was presented with a golden opportunity to score after a great cross from Reps, but the ball was cleared from the line at the final second. It seemed like Lady Luck was not with us on the day.
At the thirty-minute mark, a breakthrough came, for Hamilton, despite dominating play, we were down 1-0 at the half.
We had been down before in the last four years, and each time we had found a way to score. Smooth would surely find a goal or Mad Dog. I was sure I would score as was Big Perm, Pudge, and Hollywood. Bogie had another good opportunity, but it seemed our precious destiny had abandoned us on our home field.
Despite outshooting and out possessing our opponent, the clock hit zero, and the journey was over. We were in shock; we had lost. This was the first loss for every member of the team that was not a senior and the last game for my classmates and me.
The waterworks began. I completely lost it. I was on my face in the middle of Alumni Field shedding tears that seemed infinite. I could not stop crying, the pain was severe, and I was inconsolable. I had been playing soccer at a competitive level since the 4th grade. This was my thirteenth year of competitive scholastic soccer, and it ended with a 1-0 loss.
The Journey
For the next few weeks, I was in a funk. The reality of playing in my final college soccer game would eventually set in, and I was able to assess a college career that included a National Championship, a 60-game unbeaten streak, three straight trips to the NCAA and a 64-6-7 overall record.
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The Love We Shared
When it all ends, you miss the competition that college athletics provides and the pursuit of perfection. More than anything else you miss your Brothers. The men you went to battle with over the past four seasons become your family for the rest of your life. We all loved the game to a fanatic degree, but we loved each other even more.
Legacy
The Saint class of 2001 left the program in good hands. We still had the best coach in the country, an incoming freshman class that rivaled the rising seniors in depth and talent, and a new stadium, named after an all-time Saint scheduled to open the following season. Since we were members of the 1999 team, we knew that a Hall of Fame induction would follow in the future.
Members of the class went in different directions after graduation, but we remained Saints for Life, continuing to support the team in any way we can.
Lessons from the Experience
My high school motto was “Persevere and Excel.” Over the course of my college career, I came to realize the wisdom and importance of those three words. If you are on a college soccer team, there is a reason you are there. It means that you play the game at an advanced level. It means that you have the potential to be great. The biggest obstacle to that reality is confidence and hard work. You must persevere in order to excel.
There were difficult moments for myself and my entire class when the time commitment, pressure, injuries and competition on the team seemed almost unbearable. Our love for the game and each other always made these moments seem less difficult than they were. I am convinced that we had success not because we were faster or more skilled than the teams we played, but because as a team and individuals we had a determination that could not be matched.
A person who is determined and willing to work hard will always overcome any obstacle in life or the field of play.
For four years our coach pushed us to our physical and emotional limits to maximize our potential. We were different people who needed different types of motivation to succeed. Coach Durocher did not treat us all the same, but he loved us all equally.
For the athlete, the experience of college is not remembered for the long nights of studying or having a drink or two (once one becomes a senior of course). It is pushing your body and mind to places that seemed impossible, more importantly, it is doing this with your teammates, friends, and brothers.
We were Saints for four years. We are Saints for life.
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