Ken Pasternak Changes His Goals

In his freshman year at Horace Mann, Ken Pasternak asked the school basketball coach what he could do in the fall to prepare for the winter season. Pasternak's coach recommended playing soccer since he felt soccer could help the freshman develop his speed and agility.

The coach's suggestion paid off for Pasternak as he has developed into a promising young athlete at Yale. Unfortunately for the basketball squad, Pasternak has found his athletic future with the soccer team.

As a sophomore, Pasternak had to replace. All-American goalie Steve Greenberg. Despite Yale's losing record this fall, the Elis have lost only one game-the Brown game played on a religious holiday-by more than two goals. Pasternak deserves much of the credit for the fact that seven of Yale's defeats have been by one-goal margins.

"Ken has a lot of natural ability," Yale coach Hubert Vogelsinger said. "He's an intelligent guy who really wants to play, so he has the right mental attitude toward the game.

Pasternak emphasized the importance of mental attitude in playing goalie. "Most of the challenge of starting in the goal is mental. You can never categorize yourself as a charging goalie or a conservative goalie because the big responsibility of playing goal is deciding when to come out and when to lay back," he said.

"When I look back at the goals that have been scored against me, I realize that most of them came at my moments of indecision. Game experience is so important because hesitation is a goalie's worst enemy."

Pasternak credits Vogelsinger for his improvement this fall. "He knows the techniques of the position, and he's given me a lot of his own time," Pasternak said.

As he prepares for the Harvard game, Pasternak knows the Bulldogs will be in a difficult position. "We know we'll be the underdogs, but that's nothing new. We knew this would be a tough season, but we've never folded. We've been in every game right to the end.

"We're building for the future," he continued. "We'll lose only four seniors this winter, and we've got six or seven sophomores already in the starting lineup. If we can keep close this year, we'll be on top next season."

When Pasternak looks back over the past season he doesn't think of his personal performance but of thecohesiveness of the team. "If I had to pick the highlight of the season, it's that we've been a real team all year despite our record," he said. "This group is close, very close, and everyone out on the field is trying to help the other guy gain experience. I'm sure now that we'll win if we put it all together."

Vogelsinger also praised the morale of the team. "I told them at the beginning of the year that we might not win a single game," he said. "But they've stayed in every game. The overall spirit of this team has been the best I have ever had."

Pasternak is optimistic about the team's future. "The coach laid it on the line at the beginning of the season that it would be a tough year. But we forced Penn into overtime this fall. I'm really looking forward to next year."