Athlete of the Week | Soccer captains provide leadership

Emma Carmichael Staff Writer

As the co-captains of the men’s varsity soccer team this year, Court Steiner ’07 and Adam Marsh ’07 have proven to be an impressive duo, combining to score 12 of the team’s 20 goals this season. The two have been playing together for the last four seasons, and coached by Andy Jennings for the past three.

Jennings said that his two veteran captains have been great leaders. “We’ve got a young team. Six of our starting 11 players are either freshmen or sophomores,” said Jennings. “As captains, they helped create the right atmosphere for the new players to adapt to our program.”

This season has been up and down for the Brewers, who fell to 5-9 overall and 2-5 in Liberty League play. Their most impressive win came at Union College on Saturday, Oct. 7, when Vassar beat the 24th-ranked Dutchmen 1-0. Marsh scored the lone goal in the game, one of six this season.

“It has been a difficult year in terms of the Liberty League, especially until we beat Union,” said Jennings. “[Steiner] and [Marsh] are impressive as captains because they’ve kept everything very positive and focused and have never given up on our goal of making the league championship.”

This focused attitude was evident in the game against Clarkson. After scoring his second goal of the game to bring the score to 3-2, Marsh followed his shot into the goal, scooped up the ball, and sprinted it to midfield to save a few seconds of play.

With Marsh at the head of the attack as a starting forward and Steiner backing him up as an attacking midfielder, the two seniors have proven to be an intimidating combination. In a 2-1 loss to Hobart College on Sept. 22, Marsh beat out a Hobart defender on the sideline and then sent the ball ahead to Steiner, who sent a beautiful shot into the right-hand corner of the goal.

“[Steiner] tucks in just behind [Marsh] as a midfielder,” said Jennings. “[Steiner] does a fantastic job as the support striker. Whereas [Marsh] is the platform, [Steiner] is the creator.”

Steiner, who was named First Team All-Liberty League following the 2004 season, currently leads the team with three assists, and Marsh follows with two. Steiner has earned 15 points this season, closely followed by Marsh’s 14 points.
These two seniors have maintained a consistent high level of play while leading their young team to a sixth-place finish in the Liberty League. They finish regular season play with two home matches, hosting SUNY New Paltz this Wednesday, Oct. 25 and the College of St. Vincent for Senior Day on Saturday, Oct. 28, which will honor five other seniors along with Marsh and Steiner.