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He Kicks! She Scores!
Ed Matz fields a couple of revitalized soccer teams.
By Paul Perillo
Of Northeastern’s twenty-three varsity programs, perhaps none has made a more dramatic turnaround in recent years than Ed Matz’s soccer teams. Long considered weak links within New England soccer circles, both the men’s and the women’s teams have revived over the past two seasons.
Matz, who in September begins his sixth season on Huntington Avenue—third as director of soccer—has breathed life into the programs, seemingly overnight.
“I’ve tried to focus the kids on the positives surrounding our programs,” Matz says. “Some of the coaches before me tended to point out what we didn’t have. Neither team is particularly well funded, but that doesn’t mean you can’t succeed.”
Matz knows how to prove his own point. In 1998, the men’s team posted a 7-11 mark. They improved to 11-6-2 in 1999 and 10-8 last season. Both marks were good enough to qualify NU for the America East tournament, which invites the top four in the standings.
In fact, last year’s 7-2 league mark earned the Huskies the tournament’s top seed, the first ever for Northeastern. Unfortunately, NU dropped a difficult 1-0 overtime decision to Hofstra in the semifinals.
The women’s resurgence has been even more remarkable. In 1998, the team finished a dismal 2-17-1, allowing an alarming 77 goals. The following year, Matz’s first with the women, they improved to 6-13-1, while cutting the goals allowed to 33. Last year, the women enjoyed a breakthrough season, finishing 11-7-1 and 5-4 in the America East, narrowly missing the program’s first-ever postseason bid.
“What’s been nice is that the two programs really feed off each other,” Matz says. “The women go to the men’s games, and vice versa. They really support each other. The men have had some success, and the women want to match it.”
Of course, even the best coaches need quality players to succeed. Matz has his share on both teams. The men boast first-team All-Conference selection Anders Hoyem, who as a junior last season led the nation in assists, with 12. Also returning is senior Petter Starnas, who led the team with 10 goals and was named second-team All-Conference.
The Huskies also have a talented defensive group Matz calls the core of the team, led by senior captain Chris Beston. In addition, NU hopes to benefit from the return of Ruben Claudio and Jochen Saier; both missed the bulk of last season with injuries.
“We’ve gotten to the point where we know we can win all our conference games,” Matz says. “But I hope we don’t overlook our nonconference opponents. If we’re not careful, we could find ourselves in a hole right from the start.”
Indeed, the road will be treacherous in 2001. NU will travel to North Carolina State, Duke, George Mason, and Old Dominion to open the season. Then, traditional New England powers Harvard and Dartmouth await, before the season moves on to America East opponents.
On the women’s side, Matz has adopted a similar approach. The Huskies will take on perennial powers San Jose State and Pacific University, both of which qualified for the NCAA tournament last season.
“During my years here, our programs have never taken a flight to play anywhere,” Matz says. “For us to continue to develop, we had to travel to compete against the best teams. The benefit of playing at San Jose State, where the Final Four was held last season, will be immeasurable. The women will play in front of more people than ever before.”
Last year, the women’s squad won its first six games and was 9-1-1 heading into October, before a rash of injuries helped create a 2-6 finish. Still, that performance was good enough to earn a berth in the Eastern College Athletic Conference Women’s Championships, where NU dropped a 3-1 decision to eventual champ Penn. The team figures to be even stronger in 2001, losing just three seniors and welcoming the best recruiting class in its five-year history.
Captain Amy Devendorf and keeper Shellie Parkinson lead the Huskies senior class, supported by a deep and talented group of sophomores. Tanya Mello was a member of the America East’s All-Rookie Team, scoring 11 goals in ten games before missing the remainder of the season with a stress fracture.
“All the girls needed was a little confidence,” Matz says. “They were disappointed because they hadn’t had a lot of success and wanted to prove they were a legitimate Division I team. The biggest challenge now is that we’re starting to gain some respect from opponents, and we’ll have to adjust to remain successful.
“People don’t take Northeastern soccer for granted anymore.”
Everhart Named New Hoops Coach
Emerging from a competitive field that included former Celtics coach Chris Ford and former UMass coach Bruiser Flint, McNeese State’s Ron Everhart has been handed the reins of the Northeastern men’s basketball team and charged with restoring the struggling program to its prominence of a decade ago.
The thirty-nine-year-old Everhart, who led McNeese to a 22-9 record and a National Invitation Tournament appearance this season, was introduced to the Boston media and the Northeastern community in a news conference April 9 at Matthews Arena.“I’m extremely honored and proud to be in a position to represent North-eastern University,” Everhart says. “And I’m extremely excited about this basketball program. I think we can build a winning program, and I think we can do it right away.”
Athletics director Ian McCaw says Everhart’s background, experience, and track record set him apart from the other finalists.
“His successful head coaching experience is something we valued highly,” McCaw says. “He’s a very successful recruiter; he’s done a tremendous job of developing a fan base, a booster club, and community support at McNeese, and we believe he can do the same thing here.”
McCaw tapped Everhart, a former assistant coach at Tulane during McCaw’s tenure there as an assistant athletics director in the early 1990s, from a field of eight finalists. In addition to Ford and Flint, candidates included Brown head coach Glen Miller, Adelphi head coach Jim Ferry, Indiana assistant Julius Smith, Miami assistant Dwight Freeman, and Providence assistant Steve DeMeo.
In seven years at McNeese, Everhart compiled a 92-104 record, including three winning seasons and two Southland Conference championships. He was named District 8 coach of the year this season by the National Association of Basketball Coaches.
Known for favoring an up-tempo style of basketball—the Cowboys averaged nearly 85 points a game this season—Everhart inherits a Northeastern program that has struggled during the past five years but boasts a strong corps of returning players and one of the top 50 Division I recruiting classes in the nation.
Everhart says the quickest way to build a winning program is to “sign talented players with strong character,” something he says he did successfully at McNeese.
“I think we can be competitive not only in the league, but in the region,” he says, adding that he hopes one day to get area powers Boston College and UMass on the Northeastern schedule.
Everhart, who held assistant coaching jobs at Georgia Tech and Virginia Military Institute before moving to Tulane in 1988, succeeds Rudy Keeling, who in five years at Northeastern failed to produce a winning season. Keeling, who came to Northeastern from the University of Maine in 1996, compiled a 48-92 career mark with the Huskies after a disappointing 10-19 finish this year.
“We haven’t gotten over the hump in making it into the upper echelon of the conference, and that’s something that’s got to happen,” McCaw says.
McCaw says he evaluated “every aspect” of the basketball program—from recruiting and academics to marketing and attendance—before deciding Keeling would not return for the 2001–2002 season.