Boston University Men’s Soccer Coach Neil Roberts knew that he had a talented freshman class coming in this season, a class ranked 24th in the nation by CollegeSoccerNews.com. He also knew that to replace players such as the departed Joachim Kaland, he would need immediate contributions from his freshmen. Little did he know how immediate those contributions would be.
Freshman Sedrick Chin flew all over the field Friday night against the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, seemingly involving himself in every play. Chin tallied four points on a goal and two assists.
“At first I was just ready to wait and see what happens,” Chin said. “I just wanted to play my game and see what was the outcome of it. I didn’t expect to really score, but I just wanted to come out and do my best.”
On the first goal, Chin pivoted and took a quick shot from the 18-yard box that deflected off junior Alan McNamara and into the Massachusetts net at the 21:20 mark of the first half. While the score was initially announced as Chin’s first collegiate goal, the scoring was changed at halftime when it was decided that McNamara got a piece of it before it sneaked into the lower left corner.
But only 30 minutes after having his goal changed to an assist, Chin got the goal that had been taken away in the first half. After a perfect cross from senior back David Fahey, Chin was left wide open in the box and made no mistake, pounding the shot past Amherst goalkeeper Enzo Altomare.
But even if he hadn’t gotten his name in the box score, Chin was easily the most visible Terrier on the field, seemingly popping up wherever the ball came down.
“Sometimes I just try to play my position,” he said. “But sometimes, I try to come inside of middle. You just have to pace yourself and not run too hard if it’s going to put you out of position.”
While no coach is going to complain about a player with four points in only his third career game, Roberts believes Chin still has some work to do with his game.
“[Defending] isn’t automatic for him yet.” Roberts noted. “But we have some juniors that it’s not automatic for either. He misses his mark sometimes, and doesn’t get back automatically all the time, but he’s working at it. It’s going to make him a better player, and as you saw tonight, he’s got a lot of talent.”
And even in the post-game glory of his breakout performance, Chin was quick to point out that he knows he has some improving to do.
“It’s been sort of hard to adapt because I’m not used to being such a defensive player,” he said. “But coming into this team I’ve learned that I have to defend first before I can start attacking.”
While Chin and the rest of his class are technically freshmen, many of them have serious soccer experience under their belts. Some, such as the Jamaican Chin and Australian Jamie Johnson, have even had experience at the international level.
“Sedrick is a very talented player,” Roberts said. “Jamie is a very talented player. Technically they’re freshmen, but they have more talent and experience than many incoming freshmen.”
While Roberts is obviously most interested in how Chin will help the Terriers reach the NCAA Tournament, he also wants to help him as he moves up in his national program back home.
“He’s never really defended in his life,” Roberts said. “But you know, he wants to play for the national team back home. If he wants to play at that level, he’s got to defend. That’s how we can help him, he’s been with the national team, and now he’s staying full time. So we can help by making him a better all-around player.”