Teams: Men's Soccer: Team Overview

• O'Connell, Bedig voted All-NESCAC

Information on Lightning Soccer's Elite/College Prep Overnight Camp

A member of the New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC), the Tufts University Men's Soccer program is one of the most competitive in New England. Now in his 18th season as head coach, Ralph Ferrigno directs a team that annually contends for the conference title and the automatic NCAA Tournament berth that goes to the champion.

Fourteen of Ferrigno's 17 Tufts teams have finished with winning records. Six times they have won 10 or more games. His career record of 146-94-22 represents both the most wins and the best winning percentage (.604) of any coach in the long history of the Jumbo program. From 1994-2002, the team posted a remarkable 91-41-12 record (.674). After a seventh consecutive conference tournament berth last fall, the Jumbos look to climb in the competitive NESCAC standings for 2007.

As part of NESCAC, the Tufts program plays in the nation's most competitive small college conference academically and athletically. The Jumbos play at a post-season pace week after week against conference competition. Last season, Tufts played to a 7-2-1 record over the last five weeks of the season. Jumbos Mattia Chason, Dan Jozwiak and Greg O'Connell were voted on to the 2006 All-NESCAC team, with Chason and O'Connell recognized for the second straight year.

The NESCAC is a group of highly selective liberal arts colleges and universities that share an academics-first philosophy for intercollegiate athletics. Jumbo players are recognized for their academic accomplishments as well. Five team members were named to the NESCAC All-Academic team last fall. Recent graduate Matt MacGregor, an international relations/history major with a grade point average over 3.8, was selected to the NSCAA's Collegiate Scholar All-America Team.

Located right outside of Boston, Tufts offers a well-rounded collegiate experience to student-athletes. Within its picturesque small-college campus, Tufts is a major university with an unprecedented diversity of programs, exceptional faculty and staff, and bright and talented students, according to President Lawrence S. Bacow. The Athletics Department sponsors a varsity program of 28 sports that is among the most competitive in the NCAA's Division III. Tufts finished sixth in the 2006 U.S. Sports Academy Directors' Cup, the award presented annually to the best overall collegiate athletics programs in the country. The University's proximity to a world-class city renowned for its academic institutions is also a major draw.

Tufts enters each season with NCAA Tournament aspirations. The 1994 team won the NCAA New England Championship, defeating NESCAC rivals Williams and Middlebury to take the crown. The team hosted Johns Hopkins in the NCAA Quarter-finals in front of 4,000 fans that year. The 1996 Jumbos followed with another NCAA Tournament berth, losing just three games along the way. In the regional ECAC Championships, Tufts advanced to the championship game in 1998 and won the title in 2000. NESCAC teams are no longer eligible for ECAC Tournament play.

Ferrigno earned his 100th win with the Tufts program in the 2000 ECAC title game against Bowdoin. He was named NESCAC Coach of the Year in 2001 after guiding the team to an 11-4-1 overall record. Other recognition he's received includes NCAA New England Coach of the Year, New England Intercollegiate Soccer League Coach of the Year and Massachusetts College Coach of the Year. Previously an assistant at Dartmouth College, he is the director of the successful New England-area Lightning Soccer Camps. Last March, he coached the Massachusetts Olympic Development Program's Boys Under-17 program to the national semi-finals.

A strong senior class that includes All-Stars O'Connell and Jozwiak, scorers Bob Kastoff and Alex Botwinick and Andrew Drucker and Alex Bedig in back leads the Jumbos into the '07 season. Junior returning starters Peter DiGregorio and Matt Maloney, and a talented sophomore class that includes Bear Duker, Ari Kobren and goalie Pat Tonelli, give the Jumbos several pieces in place for a successful season.

Kraft Field, home to the Jumbos, was a gift to the University made by New England Patriots and Revolution owner Robert Kraft and his family in the 1980s. Tufts also uses the Bello Field turf, opened in 2004, for games and practices during inclement weather.

The Tufts program also features a very competitive junior varsity program, which has fed the varsity line-up with young players throughout Ferrigno's tenure. The Tufts team also regularly takes a pre-season tour to England, homeland of Coach Ferrigno.