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Tony Elmore's first season as the men's soccer head coach was a success. Elmore's goal for this season was to remain competitive in every game, and he reached that objective in 9 out of 14 games. Let's examine this season's statistics to see the team's overall improvement.

The team lost their first eight games. Some of those losses were embarrassing, with the team allowing double digit scoring three times. However, over the last seven games the defense only allowed an average of less than three goals a game, a major improvement. Yeshiva University went 2-4 in their last six games, including defeating one of the semi-finalists from the Hudson Valley Athletic Conference in double overtime.

One can only attribute the dramatic turnaround to Elmore's tactic of playing a man-marking defense to the zone defense system. Coach Elmore credits the back four ("the backbone"), consisting of Roni Magendzo, Tal Scher, Achiya Jaffe and Shua Pransky for the change. Elmore states, "Roni and Tal became, in my opinion, the best center back pairing in the Skyline Conference and deserve the title of 'All-Conference Athletes.' " Shua, too, is a fantastic athlete. Despite his lack of soccer experience, he has played just about every minute of every game in a difficult position to fill.

Elmore refers to Captain Achiya as, "the heart and soul of the team." Elmore explained that, "He helped the surge of the Macs in the last six games, despite playing with a fracture in his foot. His advice has helped me immeasurably as a first year coach and he has shown the character and responsibility that is necessary to hold a team together."

Of course, we must also credit the goalies. Both goalies, rookie sensation Mark Rocklin and Daniel Rosenthal, a junior who set the record last year with 37 saves, were instrumental in the team's success this year.

On the offensive end, rookie Zach Stern led the team with 6 goals. Led by the captain of the offense, Ari Blum, along with Joseph Itkis, Stern, and the rest of the Macs, the offense went from averaging .80 goals a game to over one goal a game this year. Furthermore, the team doubled their shot attempts from a sparse 7.1 to a respectable 15.1.

Prior to joining the Macs, Coach Elmore coached soccer at Mount St. Vincent (CMSV), a women's Catholic school. According to Coach Elmore, "Both teams struggled in the year prior to my arrival and both teams had trouble scoring, and therefore, winning games in my first season." CMSV went 3-10 in his first season compared to the 2-12 record he achieved here at YU. Following the 3-10 campaign, Elmore's squad had a 10-7 record and he was recognized as the 2005 Skyline Conference Coach of the Year. The following season, he led the team to the HVWAC Championship Game!

Elmore's projections of going at least .500 with the Macs in 2009 is encouraging. If the last six games or Coach Elmore's resume are any indication, these goals are attainable. The nucleus of the team, including leading scorer Stern, Captain "Backbone" Achiya, and the goalies, will be returning. However, Captain Ari Blum, Shalom Rosen, Eitan Magendzo, Sammy Magid, and Phil Eilenberg will not be playing next season. The Macs will surely miss them, but with 17 returnees, this team is bound to shock the world next season. Senior defensive back, Shalom Rosen warned, "This is going to be a very good team in 2009". Consider this a fair warning to the rest of the Skyline Conference, Watch out! The Macs are coming!