In the early goings of the 2016 NPSL season, two teams have stood out. Both AFC Cleveland and AFC Ann Arbor have gotten off to unprecedented hot starts. Cleveland has jumped out to a record of five wins and one loss, while Ann Arbor, in their first season, have garnered a record of four wins, two draws, and one loss. Both records are impressive feats for the teams.
AFC Cleveland head coach Carter Poe attributes his team’s success to the talent the team has recruited and brought in.
Defender Thomas Beck thinks the coach deserves a little more praise, saying, “We’ve got a good group of core players from last year and a good group of new guys that have gelled well. Coach Poe has done a great job of getting us to mesh together and play well together.”
While there’s been a great team effort on the pitch for the Cleveland squad, one player has stood out in particular: midfielder Brian Potocnik. Potocnik was named Man of the Match three times in a row. Potocnik’s play along with a terrific team effort guided by Poe is why Cleveland has had early season success.
Perhaps more impressive than Clevelands 5-1 start is Ann Arbor’s 4-2-1 early season record (wins, draws, losses, respectively). Sure, Cleveland has the better record but Ann Arbor is an expansion franchise, meaning it’s the club’s first season in the NPSL. Historically, it is extremely difficult for an expansion team to have immediate success in any sport, in any league, on any level.
So how has AFC Ann Arbor done it? For starters, the team might have entered the season with a key advantage: “We began training in mid-April,” coach Eric Rudland said, “That’s earlier than most teams.”
Obviously, beginning training isn’t the only secret to Ann Arbor’s success. Coach Rudland also believes he has several special players on his team. Rudland gave particular praise to Dario Suarez, a midfielder who played for Cuba in the Gold Cup. Rudland believes Suarez is a “next level guy, he definitely has the potential to play in the pros in America.”
Rudland also praised defender Lars Eckenrode, who also plays for the University of Michigan. Rudland recognized the efforts of forward Yuri Farkas, who scored a goal in the first few games of the season. These players’ standout play has been a major key to Ann Arbor’s rise to success.
The last major key of Ann Arbor’s success has been a psychological one: confidence. Coach Rudland noticed that the team started out confident in their ability to succeed and has seen that confidence only grow after each game.
With both AFC Cleveland and AFC Ann Arbor proving themselves to be the best of their respective conferences, it is a shame we will not see the two teams play each other. But there’s always the playoffs.
