With the Seawolves losing many of their top goal scorers from a year ago, there will be lots of pressure on midfielder Alejandro Fritz to raise his offensive game. However that pressure has not stopped Fritz from setting lofty expectations for himself.
“I’m really trying to be named America East Midfielder of the year,” Fritz said.
Fritz has reason to be confident after coming off a strong freshman campaign. In 2012 he started in 17 out of 18 matches, and finished with 5 goals, 6 assists and 16 points on the season. Last year’s America East Midfielder of the year, Leonardo Fernandes, was the only Seawolf who had more points and assists than Fritz.
He was also a big offensive contributor on a Stony Brook team that went to the semifinals of the America East tournament. His best game came in the America East quarterfinals against Binghamton.
He had two goals and an America East Championship-record-tying 5 points in the game. He also came up with a last-minute tying goal in the game where Stony Brook would go to win 5-4 in overtime.
Fritz’s strong play was recognized as he earned a spot on the 2012 America East All-Rookie Team, along with the 2012 America East All-Tournament Team.
“I had a great freshman year,” said Fritz. “I’m really proud of those awards. But, I want this season to get better, and to have an even better year this year.”
Fritz’s head coach from last season Ryan Anatol was very pleased with his first season with Stony Brook.
“He had a good freshman year, and he’s driven,” said head coach Anatol. “He wants to do well, he wants the group to do well, and he’s another we expect to have a good season.”
Fritz is from Budapest, Hungary and went to high school at Szent Istvan Gimnazium. There was a lot to get used to in his first training camp at Stony Brook, but this year Fritz says he feels much more at ease.
“Yes I’m definitely more comfortable,” he said. “I know what’s going on this year. Now I just try to step up and be a leader, and help newcomers as well.”
Over the offseason Fritz was working hard on continuing to improve his game. One thing he tried to improve on was his play with his right foot. Fritz is a left footed player, and felt that it was important to get better with his off foot. He also worked hard on coming into training camp fit.
This season, with a lot of questions about where the Seawolves’ goals will come from this season, the team cannot afford for Fritz to regress.
“I’m definitely gonna have a lot more pressure on me this year,” he said. “I have to have a bigger impact on the game. “
The Stony Brook offense this year will feature five freshman midfielders and two freshman forwards. Fritz does not expect his team to go backwards this year, but also thinks it will take time to build chemistry.
“It’s gonna be different, because the new players are still not use to the tempo,” said Fritz. “But, definitely with time, I think we can have a really good group, and achieve great goals.”
He is well aware of what is expected of him, and knows he will need to play well for the Seawolves to achieve what they want: a conference championship. And Fritz says he won’t be satisfied with anything less.
“This season we definitely have to win the America East championship, and then we’ll see what happens from there,” he said.
