Brown Men's Soccer Season Preview
9/1/2021
Coach Patrick Laughlin on the Upcoming 2021 Season
Excitement is building as the Brown men’s soccer team gets set to kick off its 2021 season this Friday evening at the University of Hartford.
“Preseason has been great,” head coach Patrick Laughlin said. “It’s been a real joy to be back together. I think we’re in a really good place as a group and the players and staff are excited for this fall. I think we’ve accomplished a lot this preseason, which we knew we had to do because we have so many new players who haven’t played a college game. It’s been a long time since our last game so there’s a lot of anticipation for this Friday.”
Laughlin will be at the helm for his 12th season as head coach of the Bears. He will be joined once again by Sam Groves, who returns for the fifth season of his second stint at Brown. Andy Parker and Aaron Horton will join the coaching staff for the first time this season, with Parker previously serving as an assistant at UConn, and Horton coming off an 11-year playing career, including a stint with the Columbus Crew of MLS.
When the Bears take the field on Friday, it will mark their first game action since a 2-1 win over Dartmouth on November 16, 2019. Four of Brown’s first six matches will be at home at the newly renovated Stevenson-Pincince Field.
Key Returners
Brown returns two of its four All-Ivy League selections from 2019, including senior forward Derek Waleffe and junior defender Owen Schwartz. Waleffe tied for the team lead in goals and was second in points as a sophomore in 2019. He has been an All-Ivy Honorable Mention in each of his first two seasons. Schwartz will help anchor the back line after starting all 17 games as a freshman, earning All-Ivy Honorable Mention and was the only Ivy League player to earn All-Rookie honors from the New England Soccer Journal.
The team will also be bolstered by the return of senior captain, Will Crain. The defender started all 17 games as a freshman in 2018, ranking third on the team in minutes before missing the entire 2019 campaign due to injury.
In goal, Brown returns two goalkeepers in seniors James Swomley and Max Waldau, who each saw extended action in 2019.
“We have a good amount of returners back that have experience and we have a good amount of new guys this year as well,” Laughlin said. “A big theme for us this year is that it’s going to be competitive. We’re going to ask a variety of guys to step up and see who can do it in a game. We’ve seen them do it in training, but we’re looking forward to seeing how they do when we go against someone different.”
New Faces
Brown will welcome 18 newcomers to the 2021 squad with 11 incoming freshmen and a seven-member sophomore class that has yet to compete in a collegiate match.
“Preseason has been awesome,” Crain said. “Everyone’s been working hard. We’re learning a lot about what our team’s identity is and who fits where. It’s been really competitive so far and we’ve had to fight for our spots which makes the intensity at practice a lot better.”
“The new guys have done well”, Laughlin said. “With our added depth and numbers, we have a really competitive team for the starting spots. Our leadership group has done an outstanding job and all the players and coaches are really looking forward to this season, especially because we haven’t had a chance to play for so long.”
Brown was selected to finish sixth in the Ivy League Preseason Poll with 44 points, finishing between fifth place Dartmouth (72) and seventh place Columbia (39). Yale grabbed the top spot with 117 points.
“What I’ve seen in our preseason, with the competitiveness between everybody fighting for their spots, we’re looking really good,” Crain said. “The preseason polls show we’re not one of the favorites, and I like that because we have a little chip on our shoulders. We have to prove something to everyone and it’s going to be a good story at the end of the day.”
