Cluster soccer is fun for everyone, except for those people who break important bones in their bodies during the game. Important bones broken in recent memory: Collarbone (Harry Goldstein ’05), Fibula (Tom Levesque ’05), Heart (Pine Knoll ’04-’05). Now, Harry’s collarbone has luckily healed since last year, but Pine Knoll and Tom are still suffering. Despite these tragedies, cluster soccer has been going quite well. Games between ABB, FLG, WQN and WQS have all been close, with no automatic wins by any team. This keeps the games exciting and the hearts pounding. PKN and ABC have a rivalry of their own, fighting for 5th and 6th place, with ABC trying to prove that yes, scrub teams can beat other cluster’s main teams. Now, for individual highlights. Although he has a broken leg, Levesque is leading the league with 15 goals this season. Yannick Janin ’05 is second with 14 goals, and Marc Asch ’05 is in third with 10. As in most sports, in soccer a good defense is key. Any team with excellent defense and above average offense has a very good chance at winning the title. This theory has been proven this year with the top 4 teams, and especially with WQN. WQS may have the strongest midfield, ABB the strongest single defender and one of the best attackers in both Alex Bois ’05 and Asch, and FLG the best dribblers in the league, but North has the best overall defense. They do have strong offense in Ned Henningsen ’05, Alexis Malozemoff ’05 and Janin, but their defense is the key, with strong goalie Julian Dames ’05 (imported from Germany’s finest school of soccer) supported by a vast array of strong defensive champions. For a counterexample to WQN’s brilliance, there is FLX. Their difficulty in winning has been a direct result of their troubles with defense. However, there is good news for “The Remix.” Peter Nelson ’05 scored their first goal of the season recently, breaking a streak of about 500 scoreless minutes. As for the standings, the four teams at the top are very close. WQN is in the lead with 19 points, FLG is second with 18, and WQS and ABB are tied for third with 17. Every tie is 1 point, and every win is 2, so any team can take first place at any point in time.
