Off the Pitch with Coach Ray Reid: August 21, 2007

We have been in pre-season camp now for seven days. Our team came into the pre-season very fit and have made progress each day. The goal is for this year’s team is very simple: We want to improve from one day to the next.

Our four Captains -Ryan Cordeiro, Julius James, Karl Schilling and Toni Stahl have done a good job so far. With so many new players good leadership is important. Our team mentality so far has been good. We have been training three times a day and with that our mental toughness has been tested.

Our first pre-season match was with Boston University. Both teams had been in pre-season camp only four days so at times the match was opened up. Overall our guys did a good job and Boston University looks to be one of the better teams in New England this year.

Our next pre-season match is against Duke. If you want my opinion, they may be the top team in the country. John Rennie has once again put together a very talented group that coupled with Coach Rennie announcing his retirement should make it a very good year for the Blue Devils.

Coach Rennie will be missed when he retires. His record speaks for itself and he has truly helped to build the game in this country. He is one of the guys that the young coaches of today can learn from. He does it right and his teams play hard. I know that I will miss competing against him and his Duke Blue Devils.

I hope to see you at Morrone Stadium at 7:00 on Saturday evening.