WILLIAMSTOWN — Williams College men’s soccer coach Steffen Siebert says there is a bit of a different feeling to practice. Maybe that’s because, as the full-time head coach, he now knows his players.
“What does feel different is that I now actually know everyone’s name,” Siebert said with a chuckle. “Last year at this time, I didn’t even know everybody’s name and everybody’s skill set and where they best excel. I think that’s really important for me now that I know the returners, I know the incomers. I just have a better feeling for how to maybe get the best out of the team.”
Steffen Siebert is set to begin his second season as the men’s soccer coach at Williams.
Siebert, who was named interim coach in August, 2021, had the “interim” tag taken away at the end of January. He was hired to replace Erin Sullivan, who moved over to become the Director of Intramurals within the Williams athletic department.
The Ephs, who were 7-6-2 last year, open the 2022 season as part of a “Soccerpalooza” day at Cole Field this afternoon. The men and women will both open at home at the same time. Siebert’s team will play a non-conference game against Springfield College, while the women will open NESCAC conference play against Hamilton. Both games kick off at 4 pm
For Siebert, the opener will be a bit of a homecoming as he spent six years as the head coach at Springfield. It will also be a homecoming for Springfield head coach Tommy Crabill, who took the head job there in 2018. Crabill left Williams to take over on Alden Street.
“I have amazing memories of coaching at Springfield and getting to see where they are now, and getting to see the players,” Siebert said. “There are still some players on the team who I recruited or who played under me. Obviously, Tommy was a Williams assistant. I’m really happy for him as well, and get to see him and a former player of mine [Stewart Frank] is an assistant at Springfield.”
The Williams coach said practice has gone well as they get on the on-ramp towards the start of the 2022 season.
“What we use preseason for is to get everybody on the same page,” Siebert said, “so the team knows what we’re trying to do in each situation in the game.
“That has gone really well so far.”
The Ephs are coming off a 7-7-2 season, a year where the Ephs lost a 2-1 decision to eventual NCAA Division III men’s soccer champion Connecticut College in the quarterfinal round of the NESCAC Tournament.
Williams was ever-so-close to having a great record, as the Ephs were 3-7 in one-goal games. Five times, the Ephs dropped 1-0 decisions.
The Ephs return their top six scorers, led by Nathan Song. The rising senior from Old Tappan, NJ, had seven goals to lead the team. Henry Osborn, a senior midfielder from Weston, had five assists to lead the club. Osborn and All-NESCAC second-team selection senior Nick Boardman anchor the midfield.
Goalkeeper Ben Diffley played in 11 games last season for the Ephs as a sophomore.
“I think we all made a step forward, and I certainly hope they did as well,” Siebert said of Song and sophomore forward Keel Brissett from nearby Sunderland. “I’m excited to see them. They look very good in training so far. We also had a spring season last year. Nate had a little injury, but I think hopefully, you can expect a great season from them working for the team and helping us get some goals.”
In the back, the Ephs are going to choose between juniors Ben Diffley and Michael Davis or sophomore Justin Hartwig in net. Diffley played in 11 games last year, had a 0.82 goals-against average and had three shutouts.
“We have three very good goalkeepers and it’s a close race,” Siebert said. “I want to make sure to give everybody the opportunity. I think we have some really good depth, but also whoever ends up starting will do a tremendous job for us.”
The Williams schedule is, as usual, a competitive one. The Ephs will play six teams that were either ranked or received votes in the final D3soccer.com Top 25.
Defending national champion Connecticut College is one of four NESCAC teams ranked in the United Soccer coaches Top 10, and three of them will visit Cole Field. The Camels are the No. 1 team in the coaches poll, while runner-up Amherst is second, Tufts is sixth and Middlebury is eighth. All but Middlebury will play Williams in the Purple Valley.
“It’s probably one of the toughest schedules around,” said Siebert, whose team also has a non-league match with Babson. “That’s really important for us because we want to challenge the guys.”
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