Soccer and Cross Country

MY job is safe," said soccer coach Alden (Whitey) Burnham with a disgusted look on his face.

"It takes a genius to lose with this material . . . and no one fires a genius."

Burnham was talking after his Dartmouth soccer team had lost its first two games, to Middlebury 2-0 and to Penn 1-0. If there's one thing more frustrating than losing, it's losing by a shutout when you get three times as many shots as the victor. Dartmouth had done this in both starts.

"We have the talent. We've got as much material as any Dartmouth team I've ever seen. We have good balance, a good defense, and a good style. We'll move that ball with our short passing game against any opponent we play," said Burnham.

"Our trouble has been the 'finish.' We are not sharp at scoring, at finding the net. We don't have that big hitter. But I prefer balance because then the other team can't shut you off by stopping one guy."

Last year Dartmouth tied for the Ivy League soccer title by winning the close ones. With a very strong defense, headed by captain and "defensive monster" Bill Duval of Essex Junction, Vt., it seemed the Indians would be in a similar position this year. Especially after the offense scored 16 goals in three practice games, a high total for soccer.

But while goaltender Larry Geiger '66, the Harrison, N. Y. lad who also is sports editor of The Dartmouth, has been in top form and the defense with Duval, Chip Harvey '67 of Media, Pa., Pete Barber '66 of Williamsville, N. Y., and sophomore Ed Heald of Hudson, 0., has been immense, the offense has been erratic.

"Getting the right forward combinations has been our problem," admits Burnham. "Actually I have 11 pretty good kids for the four positions and this is a problem I enjoy. Pretty soon we'll hit on the correct pairings and then we'll take off."

Whitey has a hunch that Victor Garcia of Paraguay and Tequabo Iasu of Ethiopia might be the answer up front. Both are experienced soccer players who reported late because they had been visiting their homelands. Garcia missed practically all of last season with a knee injury.

"Veteran Grant Monahon (Basking Ridge, N. J.) and soph Fred Palmer (Rochester, N. Y.) have moved out ahead of the other forwards and we will try the two latecomers with them," said Burnham.

One thing about which there is no question is that junior Bill Smoyer of Princeton, N. J., has joined his brother Dave '63 as an outstanding Big Green soccer player. Dave was an All-America goalie as well as squash and tennis star.

"Smoyer has everything, poise, stamina, endurance, grace. He's the complete soccer player. In just about every game we have played Bill has been our best player on the field, with halfback Bruce Petrie (London, England) as a close second," said Burnham.

At press time it appeared that Whitey had found the right combination. The Indians defeated Amherst, 2-0, for their first league triumph and headed into a crucial game at Brown with a new, optimistic attitude.

THE general picture of a cross-country runner is of a lonely, introverted lad who loves the solitude and anguish of the long run through the country in all types of weather.

Well, Dartmouth's top two harriers this fall are far from this type. Sophomore Steve Atwood (Westfield, N. J.) who was the Indians' top finisher in the first two races is, according to Coach Ellie Noyes, "a bubbly, well-rounded boy who may go to Europe next summer as part of a choral singing group."

Atwood, 19, also is a pianist and parttime disk jockey on WDCR. He started running as a youngster in New Jersey, became an outstanding schoolboy runner, and won the Ivy League Invitational Meet for freshmen last year.

Number two man is Captain Roy Benson, the seasoned (24) Coast Guard veteran who dropped out of college to take a look at the outside world and four years later returned to the campus. Benson is no introvert. He always has a smile, a ready greeting. He's the type of runner who can't resist a pause during practice to watch the football team run a play or two; then he bolts ahead to catch up with the dedicated gang up front.

Dartmouth lost its first meet to powerful Manhattan and then finished second to Yale but ahead of Columbia in a triangular meet. "We haven't been able to pack in the others behind Atwood and Benson but I do think we have a fairly deep and promising team for the future," said Coach Noyes.

Insiders call them the A-B-C boys because all the strength seems to be packed in that part of the alphabet. Besides Atwood and Benson there are soph Steve Calvert who is a New Jersey neighbor of Atwood's, junior Greg Audette of Springfield, Vt., and soph Bill Bridge of Newton, Mass.

The Green harriers have tough competition pending in the Heps at New York November 5 and the IC4-A down there November 15. But one thing is certain. Atwood and Benson will come up smiling.

Bill Smoyer '67