Manhattanville College Valiants

Hello Everyone,

The new season is under way and guys have done a great job of staying together! The guys who have joined us this year have done a tremendous job of coping and adjusting to college life. The trip to Canada was a wonderful experience. We had the chance to play some quality teams while there. In addition, it was great to see former players; Chris Myrtos and Pietro Pasqualino. These guys contributed a great deal to Manhattanville and I wish them the best!
We started our season two weeks ago and were tested early with matches against JUANITA and DREW UNIVERSITY. JUANITA was a physical and well organized team. We ended up winning the match 2-0. This is a team which competes in the Landmark Conference along with Drew and United States Merchant Marine Academy. The following day, we had a tough game against Drew University, going into double overtime and losing the game 2-1. I thought the game could have gone either way. They had some good chances, as did we, but unfortunately we were unable to capitalize. Coach Armuth does a great job every year with Drew University. A quality team that is always among the top in the northeast region. Last Wednesday we played City College of New York. They have improved tremendously over the last couple of seasons. I believe they will continue to improve under the guidance of Coach Ignaccolo.

This upcoming weekend, we have two very tough matches against two quality opponents. Coach Haines is an outstanding coach whose team won the National Championship in 2001. Richard Stockton is among the top 25 teams in the country every year. In addition, Coach Behan and his New York University team look very solid again this year. They had the opportunity to go the Final Four two years ago. They are going to be two very tough matches and hopefully many of you can come and support!

For our pre season game against New Haven University we had a great crowd! Thank you to all of those who attended!
I look forward to seeing many of you at the games!

Yours in soccer

Didier Orellana

Day 5 from Canada:

Friday was the last day of our trip. The morning training session was very light as we had to get right into preseason when we returned back to school. After training we checked out of the hotel and headed to Niagara Falls. We walked around the falls and went up in the tower. After a ride to the airport the flight was delayed 2 hrs. We finally got on the airplane and we circled JFK airport for about another hour and 20 minutes. We finally landed and jumped on the bus to head back to school where we arrived around 1 a.m.

Day 4 from Canada:

Everyone was feeling a little better after getting a game after our belts. Coach giving us the morning off didn't hurt either. We got to hit downtown Toronto where the guys walked around and had lunch as a team. The game was at 5 p.m. that day against a good Toronto Lynx Youth side. We lost 3-1 after a tough match. After the game we had dinner as a team to end the night.

Day 3 from Canada:

Another tough morning session came Wednesday morning. More fitness to start training and the second half was work with the ball. During the day we went to mall and had a chance to walk around as a team on our own. Every was waiting for the 9 p.m. kickoff against our old teammate Chris Myrtos' men's team. It was a well played match on both sides, with us prevailing in pk's.

Day 2 from Canada:

The 6 a.m. wake up call was a shock for most of us, but after breakfast we had an intense first training session without the ball. The fitness was hard, but went well. After our session we went bowling as a team which was extremely fun and allowed us to enjoy a little free time. We spent the night relaxing as Wednesday would bring another hard morning session and a game the same night.

Day 1 from Canada:

The trip up was extremely long... we left campus at 5:45 and got to the hotel around 7 o'clock. We checked in the hotel and ate dinner, in preparation for the first training session the next morning.