Men's soccer competes in Japan

By Joe Doss-Antoun

While most students returned home or flocked to the beaches during spring break, the men's soccer team traveled across the Pacific Ocean to compete in Japan.

From March 25 to 31, the Broncos faced three universities from Japan for a total of five matches, finishing the trek 2-2-1.

"We don't focus much on results during spring, just performance," said junior midfielder Matt Hatzke. "And our performance got a lot better as the week went on."

For the week, each university split their teams up into a Team A and a Team B. The teams' starters competed on Team A, while the reserves competed for Team B.

On March 27, Santa Clara's A-team started their week of competition with a 3-0 loss to Kansai University. Kansai was the Japanese league champion in 2006.

"It was tough because we hadn't played a game in about four months while they are in season year round," said Hatzke.

Though the starters were shut out in the first game versus Kansai, Santa Clara's B-team managed to even the series behind a couple of goals from freshmen Ryan Brown and Kellen Wantulok.

The Broncos' schedule didn't get any easier as the week went on. The next day, Santa Clara had two games against Momoyama Gakuin University, the 2005 league champions. In those matches, the B-team managed to come from behind to force a 2-2 draw, while the A-Team fell again 4-0.

"In a strange sense, I was hoping we would lose a game or two," said Coach Cameron Rast. "I know that's a weird thing for a coach to want, but I feel that sometimes the best way to learn is by losing, because you have to adjust to the competition and play tougher."

Unlike American soccer, which is influenced by an English style of play, the Japanese approach to the game is more technically sound.

"Their style of play is very heavily Brazilian influenced," said Rast. "They are very technical, very quick and very strong on the ball."

Junior Captain Peter Lowry praised the Japanese for their technical skills.

"The universities we played were very talented," said Lowry. "It gave us a chance to challenge ourselves, especially on the defensive side because they were very technical, so we had to adjust our game accordingly."

Though the men's team had an intense playing schedule during the week, they managed to squeeze in some fun activities with their hosts.

"One of the coolest things was visiting Kyoto, the ancient capital of Japan," said Hatzke. "And our last night in Osaka, the host university took us out to a Korean barbecue, which was a lot of fun."

Lowry commended the Japanese teams for their hospitality.

"Some of the players from Momoyama Gakuin showed us around the town of Osaka," said Lowry. "So without them, I think things would have been a lot more difficult."

In recent years, the National Collegiate Athletic Association rules have allowed teams to compete in international competition during the spring once every four years. In the past, Rast has taken his teams to Barcelona and Madrid in 1999 and Manchester and London in 2003.

However, with the growing relations between the NCAA and the Japanese Futbol Association, Rast felt that Japan would be a great experience for his players.

"We hosted Japan's national team last year before they took on the United States national team up in San Francisco," said Rast. "So they sort of returned the favor by inviting us to come out to Japan this year."

Rast considered taking the team to Argentina and Sweden this year before deciding on Japan.

When asked about Rast's decision to take the team to Japan, Lowry said, "Are you kidding me? It was a great decision. How many times do you get to go to Japan?"

Oddly enough, Lowry had just returned from Japan three weeks before the trip. Lowry had been competing with the United States U-23 team in Kumamoto, Japan, where his team took on Japan's U-22 team.

"In the end, my main goal was to get our players outside of their comfort zone," said Rast. "I really wanted them to have to adjust and accommodate to new surroundings and new people, which I thought was an incredible experience for our players."

Contact Joe Doss-Antoun at (408) 551-1918 or jdossantoun@scu.edu.