Oct. 22, 2008
Note: Patriot League student-athlete spotlight stories will feature the on- and off-field achievements in all sports throughout the 2008-09 season. Stories will be released on Wednesday of each week.
by Ashley Hicks, Patriot League Media and External Relations Assistant
For Colgate senior Matt Leach and his younger brother, sophomore Jeff Leach, the natural bond they have as brothers often lends itself to the soccer pitch as well.
"Occasionally, the brotherly love takes over a little bit," Matt said, after Colgate's 1-0 victory over Patriot League rival Bucknell on Saturday. "Sometimes on the field it's hard to remember that you're teammates and not just brothers. You have to respect that at a different level."
"We played together in high school, so the brotherly love factor in high school was a little worse I would say," Jeff chimed in, eliciting a chuckle from Matt. "It's good because I think we push each other and we make each other better on most occasions. Sometimes we get a little nit-picky with each other, but he pushes me and I'm always trying to catch up to him."
And like many younger siblings, Jeff followed in his older brother's footsteps from a young age. The sons of Brian and Robin Leach, Matt and Jeff started playing soccer when they were growing up in England, where Jeff was born.
"We lived over there for about 10 years before we came to America. That's where we really picked up the game," Matt said. When they moved back to America, both brothers played high school soccer at New Canaan High in New Canaan, Conn. After high school, the brothers' path started to diverge.
After he graduated from high school, Matt decided to play intercollegiate soccer at Colgate under first-year Head Coach Erik Ronning.
"Academics and athletics" are what drew the elder Leach to Colgate.
"The ability to play at a Division I school and get a great education that would prepare me for a career outside of soccer coming out of college" impacted Matt's decision.
Two years later, Jeff enrolled at Wake Forest University, where he planned to pursue his dream of playing professional soccer. There, he was part of the 2007 team that won the NCAA Division I Men's Soccer Championship.
"I went to Wake Forest because I wanted the ability to become a professional soccer player, and obviously have a great education," Jeff said. "As the season went on, I began to realize it's very focused on soccer down there, and that's kind of the fast track for kids to get to the pros. I realized that I didn't want to close off other doors for me just focusing on soccer."
Jeff decided to transfer from Wake Forest, and although he considered enrolling at a number of different schools, Colgate seemed to be a natural fit for him.
"I was looking at a bunch of different schools," Jeff said. "But obviously Matt goes [to Colgate], and I knew Coach Ronning from the recruiting process and I know a bunch of the guys who go here. Colgate's a great academic school and it's a great soccer program, going to the [NCAA] tournament last year. And I felt that it was a good fit for me. I felt comfortable coming here."
Both players had nothing but high praise for Ronning, now in his fourth year at the helm of the Colgate program. But does having siblings on the team affect how he coaches them?
"My coaching strategy does not change," Ronning said. "They're just two different people that you have to deal with in two different ways. But they're two of the most respectful kids that I've ever coached on the field and off the field too."
"There's no one in the world I've met more passionate about their job than Coach Ronning is about his," Matt said. "I don't think he treats us any differently because we're brothers, he treats us just like teammates. I think that from [our] perspective, that's a great thing for us. We don't want to be treated any different, we want to be just soccer players."
But Matt did share some brotherly advice when he found out about Jeff's decision to transfer to Colgate.
"I just told him that no matter what happens, the most important thing is that at the end of the day, we're still brothers," Matt said. "As long as we respect that, we're going to be fine on the field."
And following that advice seems to be paying off for Colgate this season. The Raiders are 8-4-2 overall and 3-1 in the Patriot League. Though Jeff is a relative newcomer to Patriot League play, he already sees a marked difference between the ACC and the Patriot League in terms of conference game intensity.
"I think the big difference between the two is that in the ACC, everyone makes the [ACC] tournament, so sometimes the ACC games are a little more laid-back," Jeff explained. "But in the Patriot League, it's do-or-die. It's almost like you're in the NCAA Tournament, you need four or five wins to advance [to the Patriot League Tournament]. There's a lot more intensity in the Patriot League games."
"The League is incredibly tough," Matt continued. Every year, it's a struggle to get into the [Patriot League] tournament. Any team can make it in any tear, and it's just critical in all the League games that you come out and play 90 minutes like it's your last 90 minutes. The parity is unbelievable, anybody can win. The top players you find here aren't just pretty well-skilled soccer-wise, but they're also smart kids that are using soccer as a way to have fun and compete. It just goes to the kind of players you find, a bunch of hardworking characters," he explained, with what's left of an English lilt.
