To outsiders, the multitude of high notes hit by the Bryant University men’s soccer team last fall, under first-year Head Coach Ruben Resendes, came out of the blue. It’s a program perceived as a rising phoenix, emerging from the meager results of the previous season — three wins total, zero in conference play — to an NCAA Tournament playoff game last November under the lights of Beirne Stadium.
Inside the Bulldogs locker room, though, the bar was set high from the start. Year one of the Resendes era focused on thriving and surpassing the expectations crystalized by a coach who didn’t believe in settling — or building a Division I program brick by brick.
“For us, the bare bones were to make the NCAA Tournament, whether it was by winning the conference or as an at-large bid,” says Resendes, who came to Bryant from Franklin Pierce University. “Once we got there, we wanted to get closer to the [four-team College Cup].”
The season’s ending — a 1-0 loss to Yale in the NCAA playoffs — fell short of the Bulldogs’ ambitious goals, but there’s no debating the solid foundation on which the program stands entering Resendes’ second year at the helm. The hallmarks of their memorable campaign included a double-overtime win at the University of New Hampshire to claim the America East Championship — the first conference title in Bryant soccer history — and a spot in the national rankings.
To Resendes, the most remarkable aspect of the 16-2-2 season, which featured five players garnering all-conference honors, was the increased attendance at home games. An announced crowd of 2,333 witnessed Bryant’s NCAA game against Yale.
“To be honest, there’s no secret. It just requires a lot of hard work.”
“Bryant soccer didn’t have many people at their games in the past. We changed that,” says Resendes. “We created youth nights and did a lot of things around campus to get students to the games.”
From connecting with the local community to establishing program bedrocks that are non-negotiable for every Bryant player who puts on a uniform, Resendes swears by an all-encompassing approach to building a prideworthy program.
“To be honest, there’s no secret. It just requires a lot of hard work,” he says. “But if you have the right tools and right pieces, it makes everything else easier.”
