Alvin Dahn to have a breakout year

Sophomore midfielder Alvin Dahn scored his first two career goals during St. Joe’s 4-2 victory over Quinnipiac University on Sept. 1.

He took advantage of the opportunity to showcase his game on the collegiate level and was able to maintain his streak with a follow up performance, scoring a goal against Sacred Heart University on Sept. 8.   

“I have been wishing to score a goal and trying really hard to find that opportunity,” Dahn said. “In high school I would score many goals, but when I got to college the goals hadn’t been coming, so I was just looking for that opportunity to finally happen.”

In high school Dahn played defensive-mid, but at St. Joe’s he became more of an attack player.

He had to adjust to playing differently than he had before. His coaches helped him understand where he needed to be on the field and how to work on his defensive skills.

“His defensive awareness, that was one thing we had to teach him,” Head Coach Don D’Ambra said. “Coming from Liberia and even high school, he wasn’t taught a lot of the structure that was needed to better compete at this level. A lot of defensive concepts he learned and he improved a lot. We also were working on different ways for him to shoot goals.”

Dahn said the Hawk’s coaching staff  helped him to understand new playing positions.

Assistant Coach, Pat Morris, who works with Dahn after practices, made learning easier because of the fact that he is a lefty as well.

Dahn has since been able to change his style of play and find new opportunities to score.

“I think the biggest thing is that Alvin is unpredictable,” sophomore midfielder Ritchie Barry said. “He is taking his game to the next level and that defense is really hard to read. He is a confident player who doesn’t back down from any situation and he has the ability to make a play that can win us a game.”

Along with the rest of the team, Dahn knows that confidence is a critical mindset in order to be successful this season.

D’Ambra said that Dahn has a team mentality and is selfless on and off the field. 

“He is one of the guys on the team that brings everyone together,” D’Ambra said. “His knowledge and desire to play the game and his drive to be successful is really high. He is a good student of the game and is eager to learn.”

Dahn will look to continue his streak of scoring outbursts as the Hawks take on Manhattan University away on Sept. 15.