Men's soccer coach Mike Coven is entering his 37th season at his position. Coven spoke with justSports about the upcoming season last week. The Judges open the year Saturday in the Adidas Kick-Off Classic at Wheaton College.
JustSports: There are numerous positions up for grabs on this year's squad. Have any particular players impressed you in the preseason?

Mike Coven: We got a group of guys coming back who are going to play on a fairly regular basis, and they look pretty good. The problem is that some of the guys who I feel will be regular players have been hurt and really haven't participated all that much in preseason. ... You are right when you say there are a lot of positions open, and we have our first game on Saturday. You know it's going to go right down to the wire [when making the starting lineup] on Friday night to see who is healthy and who is not.

JS: Your team has eight new rookies this season. How have they done thus far in integrating themselves into your system? Do you foresee any of them making an instant contribution in their first season?

MC: Oh yeah, definitely. Come Saturday, we will have minimum three freshmen starting. I think Joe Eisenbees '13 has been one of our better players. Lee Russo '13, who has been playing up top-he can play in the midfield, too-has been great. As of late Matt Kingsley '13 has been playing great. He came in very strong, but then he had a tight hamstring, and we didn't want him to pull it, but now he's been back. [It's early in the week], but if I had to put a starting team on the field tomorrow, those three would be starting.

JS: Your team faces a tough pair of opponents:Rutgers-Newark University and the University of Southern Maine at the Sept. 5 and 6 Adidas Kick-Off Classic at Wheaton College. How have you been preparing for the opening back-to-back games?

MC: You know, back-to-back games don't scare us. I don't know [these opponents] since we haven't played either of these teams. I know that Rutgers-Newark won their ECAC tournament for their region last year, which is a tough region, so I think they will be very good. Southern Maine I know is a good team. They had a couple of kids graduate last year, but I think they will be very athletic. Again, I'm just trying to see who I want for our top 11 players and who our top three or four subs are. It is difficult just because we haven't yet been all able to play together. It is hard, to be honest with you. Right now I'm not worried about these two teams, I'm more worried about us, just getting us in shape and finding out who is going to play early in the season and who can't.

JS: The soccer team fell short of the postseason last year. What does the team need to change to make it this season?

MC: The last two years, it has come down to the final game of the year: the game against New York University. If we had beaten them the last two years, we would have made the [Eastern College Athletic Conference Championships]. You know we need to become a better team. Obviously we need to defend a little better and attack a little better. [Last season] we gave up lots of games that we were up 1-0, we let a goal slip in, or two goals slip in and we would lose or end up with a draw when we should have won the game. ... We didn't have a balanced scoring attack; everybody was just looking for [Ben Premo] '09 to score. [The rest of the team] kept giving him balls when he was covered by two or three players. The teams we play, we have a very difficult schedule, and every team would double- or even triple-team him, and it made it impossible for him to score. I think this year without [Premo] we will be a better all-around team. I am hoping to get a lot more players involved in the attack so teams won't be able to defend against us as easily as they did the last two years.

JS: One last question: I've heard a rumor that [University] President Jehuda Reinharz is a soccer fan. Do you think you would have a spot for him in your lineup?

MC: Well, you know, it's pretty competitive. So he has got to get out there. He missed a couple sessions, so he's behind the eight ball right now. He has got to get out there and prove to me he can play.