Lone senior looks to help Pitt return to national spotlight

Another school year is about to begin, and the most common icebreaking question between… Another school year is about to begin, and the most common icebreaking question between students is often “Where are you from?” Most answers at Pitt are either, “Right around Pittsburgh,” or “just outside Philly,” the latter seeming to include anywhere from Scranton to New Jersey.

But senior soccer player Clay Haflich has quite a different answer.

Originally from Fort Collins, Colo., Haflich has traveled a path not many students have. Besides being far away from family and high school friends, Haflich entered Pitt as the only incoming freshman in his recruiting class for the men’s soccer team.

“I came to Pitt because I liked the conference and the coaches, mainly,” Haflich said. “Distance was not a factor since all the schools I looked at were far away.”

Haflich not only adjusted to the move, but flourished.

During his freshman season, Haflich helped the Panthers reach a national ranking as high as No. 7 and finished his season with two goals and one assist, while starting all 18 games.

“When I came in, I had no personal goals,” he said. “I just wanted to contribute, and I got my shot and did just that.”

Prior to the start of Haflich’s sophomore season, his family was forced to move from Colorado, leaving him with no real permanent home. His family’s new destination, Texas, would be where Haflich trained during the summers.

“I am a Colorado boy, though. That is my place, and my favorite [college] football team,” Haflich said. “Pitt is growing on me, though, when they play well. But if Pitt plays Colorado, it’s CU all the way.”

Haflich, a marketing major, may be a soccer player, but he says his favorite sports are soccer and football, and that is because of his beloved Denver Broncos.

“I fell in love with football because of Denver,” he said. “I only lived an hour away from Denver, which is a huge football town. My dad and I watched every week, and it became a family tradition to watch John Elway.”

After his home changed, the soccer team’s makeup also changed. Three years later, the team has gone from mostly upperclassmen to a team with only one senior, who will graduate as a two-time captain.

Haflich became the leader of a young defense early in his career.

As the team’s youth showed, the Panthers struggled. After a 12-6 record in his freshman year, the soccer team fell to 5-8-3 in 2001 after losing several key members of the previous year’s team.

It was not until last year, when Clay was first named co-captain, that the team rebounded, going 9-8-1.

“In dealing with the young kids, I try to lead by example, through hard work, just trying to show them what needs to be done,” Haflich said, regarding being a team leader.

It appears that, after bringing in several new recruits to a fairly young team, the Panthers may be poised for a return to the national spotlight.

“With all the new guys we are bringing in, in addition to the people we have, we could be headed back towards a national ranking. There is always a chance,” Haflich said. “One young guy [who] is very special… is Keeyan Young. He is a sophomore, but a legitimate player.”

Upon graduation, Haflich plans to get “into financing somehow” and use his degree, but he is very open to being a pro soccer player if the option is there.Coaching is something he would not mind looking into, and Haflich also hopes that Pittsburgh would get “an on-campus facility sometime in the future, because it would bolster the program.”