Freshman Soccer Star Rogers Makes Good on Hype

Five years ago, Brian Rogers was in the wrong place at the wrong time. Or so said his detractors.

Rogers, an eighth grader at the K-12 Bronxville School in Bronxville, N.Y., was starting for the varsity boys’ soccer team, and some argued that it was too much, too soon. But with the Broncos down, 2-0, to North Salem in his first game, Rogers provided his rebuttal, seamlessly transferring a high pass from his chest to his foot and burying the ball in the bottom right corner of the net.

“You knew his composure was there [from the start],” says Donald Lucas, Rogers’ coach at Bronxville. “You knew that he had just answered all his critics.”

Today, Rogers is a freshman forward on the Harvard men’s soccer team, and no one is arguing about whether he belongs. Never looking back after that fateful first game, he put together a stellar career at Bronxville, including a senior season in which he set school records with 44 regular-season and 15 postseason goals and led the Broncos to their first ever New York State championship. Rogers also excelled at a high level with the Albertson Soccer Club in Long Island, N.Y., one of the most elite club teams in the nation.

“He’s one of the few kids I’ve ever coached [who’s] just so relentless in the pursuit of being one of the top players in his position,” says Aidan Gaitan, who coached Rogers on Albertson. “He practices like he plays...He just always, always, always wants to do well. You don’t find kids like that nowadays.”

When Rogers got to Harvard, the question wasn’t if he would make an impact, but when.

It turned out to be right away. Midway through the first half of the Crimson’s season opener against Stony Brook on Friday, Harvard coach Jamie Clark sent Rogers into the game. The Seawolves would score shortly after to go up 1-0, but the Crimson’s new striker had an answer just minutes later. Receiving a nifty pass from classmate Scott Prozeller, Rogers blazed past the Stony Brook defenders on a breakaway and lofted a shot into the top left corner to tie the score and announce his arrival on the collegiate soccer scene.

“That just gave me a lot of confidence,” Rogers says. “You kind of have that fear about your first goal. You know that one’s going to be the hardest. It was such a huge relief.”

Rogers followed his debut with an assist in the Crimson’s 2-0 shutout of Boston College on Monday, capping off an impressive weekend that has only added to the already considerable hype surrounding him.

The 6’2 striker is saddled with the unenviable task of replacing Mike Fucito ’09, who currently plays professionally with Major League Soccer’s Seattle Sounders. If that weren’t enough, Rogers is also the heir apparent to Harvard co-captain Andre Akpan, the Crimson’s all-time leading scorer—before Friday’s game, Akpan told Rogers, perhaps only half-jokingly, “This is the first step to breaking all my records.”

“Brian was one of the top 10 attacking recruits in the country last year, so our expectations for him and his expectations for himself are incredibly high,” Clark says. “Having [Akpan] takes a little bit of pressure off of him, but he still knows they have to be a one-two combo. He’s going to be the guy when Andre gets double teamed and things happen.”

With the pair of Rogers and Akpan so inextricably linked on the field, positive chemistry between the two is essential to Harvard’s success. Fortunately for the Crimson, Akpan has established himself as his young teammate’s most trustworthy resource since Day One.

According to LoHud.com’s high school soccer blog “Just Kickin’ It,” when Rogers was deciding between playing college ball at Harvard or Duke, Akpan—who once faced the same dilemma—was a major factor in swinging Rogers towards the Crimson.

Since Rogers arrived on campus, Akpan has immediately assumed the role of mentor, spending extra time with the rookie at practice and sitting next to him on the team bus.

“Andre...helped get me ready for the difference between high school ball and college ball,” Rogers says.

“The nice thing is that Andre has taken [Rogers] under his wing,” Clark says. “No matter how talented you are coming in, at every level you move to there’s still a lot of things to learn...Andre realizes how important Brian is to the team and even for that matter to his own success.”

As for Akpan’s record-breaking challenge?

“If I could have a career anywhere near as great as Andre’s has gone so far, I would be ecstatic,” Rogers says. “Obviously I’m not coming in here with the sole goal to break his records.”

No, while Rogers may someday succeed Akpan in the line of great Crimson goal scorers, his primary assignment is not to try to replicate Akpan’s legacy. Instead, Rogers has four years to create his own, and regardless of expectations, it will belong to him. Apparently, not much has changed since eighth grade.

—Staff writer Loren Amor can be reached at lamor@fas.harvard.edu.