Bates College: Men's Soccer

Eric Folkemer '02 The Bates College men's soccer team appeared in the National Soccer Coaches' Association of America (NSCAA) national top 25 for the first time since 1993 last season. The Bobcats fielded one of their deepest squads in recent memory, with 11 different players tallying goals. Six of those players will be back in 2001 as the Bobcats attempt to return to the postseason for the fourth time in six years. Coach George Purgavie will have to replace his team's top scorer, Bryan Stevens '01, as well as two starters from a stingy fullback corps that allowed just 15 goals in 14 contests. The Bobcats open their preseason training in August 2001 with an 11-day excursion to Great Britain. The last Bates team to make that trip responded with a 10-win season.

"Bates soccer has a lot to offer the student who wants a program that demands excellence," says Purgavie. "This is not a program for an average player. We offer athletes the opportunity to test their abilities against the best Division III teams in New England and against some of the best players in the country."

The junior class will look to provide the team's scoring punch in 2001. Forward Brian Luoma (Virginia Beach, Va.), the team's top returning scorer, enters the campaign with as one of the fastest players in school history to reach the 10-goal plateau. Midfielder Mike Masi (York, Maine) was Bates' top play-maker in 2000, recording three assists, while senior Drew Weymouth (Holden, Mass.) recorded five helpers in his rookie season. In the backfield, junior Jeff Critchlow (Carlisle, Mass.) will miss departed starters Mark Warner (Southwick, Mass.) and Walter Shicko (Rocky Hill, Conn.), but senior Dan Spector (Framingham, Mass.), is one of the top goalies in the region, earning All-New England honors in 1999 as the Bobcats set a school-record for most shutouts in a season.

Bates plays a 14-game schedule, including nine NESCAC league games before the conference tournament. Preseason work begins Sept. 1. Support for the Bobcats is very strong; the Leahey Field bleachers and sidelines are frequently packed with Bates fans. Even at away games, it is not uncommon for Bates fans to outnumber the opponents' partisans. In 2001, the Bobcats will inaugurate a brand new field on Lafayette Street at the site of Bates' new track and field facility.

George Purgavie (gpurgavi@bates.edu) has been head coach at Bates since 1983. An All-Mid-Atlantic goalie at West Chester University in Pennsylvania, he was selected for the 1973 East-West Senior Bowl and went on to play for the Connecticut Wildcats of the American Soccer League. Before coming to Bates, Purgavie served as an assistant coach at Boston College, the University of South Carolina and Middlebury College. He holds an 'A' coaching license from the U.S. Soccer Federation and serves on the National Academy Staff of the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA). Purgavie spent the spring 1999 semester on sabbatical studying soccer academies worldwide for the NSCAA, working closely with the Dutch Soccer Federation.


	©2001 Bates College. All Rights Reserved. Last modified: 6/21/01 by asl