Nov. 9, 2000

EASTON, Pa. (www.lafayette.edu) - The transition from high school to college is difficult for any young adult. The transition made by student-athletes who go to Division I schools is a bit tougher and those who choose to go to a school out of state or across the country face a slew of added pressures.

Jamie Mullarkey faced all of those realities when he was looking at colleges where he could play soccer as well as earn a good education. Columbia was the first school on his mind but it quickly changed to Lafayette when Columbia graduate and Lafayette assistant coach Dennis Bohn got word of the star forward and sold him on the Lafayette Experience.

The Cramlington, England, native chose a school that was academically, as well as athletically, competitive, not to mention an ocean away from his hometown. But the freshman forward from the Newcastle club team seems to have taken all of the transitions in stride as a member of the Leopards' soccer team as he leads the team into the Patriot League Tournament this weekend.

Mullarkey is the points leader on the 2000 Lafayette team, recording two goals, including two game-winners, and four assists for eight points in his first season. One of his game-winning goals came in the Leopards' 1-0 win over Navy, which is viewed as the turning point for the team this season. Lafayette had gone 1-8 before the match with the Midshipmen and the victory opened Lafayette's Patriot League slate.

It also opened the team to the renewed possibility of repeating as Patriot League champions.

"That game over Navy was big," Mullarkey said through his thick accent. "It really showed our team spirit to go out there and defend in a game that we were outshot 16-2 by a team that was previously undefeated. Statistically we should not have won that game but with that win we were able to start our season over, in a sense."

Since that turnaround against Navy in early October, Lafayette finds itself in the battle for the league title with a overall record of 7-10 and a league record of 4-2 entering the Patriot League Tournament at Metzgar Fields.

Mullarkey has in large part helped the Lafayette turnaround but it hasn't been without some trepidation and uncertainty. An only child from Great Britain, Mullarkey had to adjust to the American attitude toward soccer, a sport that is the epitome of athletics in his native land, as well as the changes in the game itself. "There was never such a thing as recording something like assists in a game. Statistics were never worried about," he said.

Lafayette head coach Tim Lenahan explained one of the major adjustments Mullarkey had to make in his game. "Jamie has improved with every game although it took him a little while to get used to the physical demands of the game.

"He was used to a different style of play in England, where there are no substitutions during the game so toward the second half of a game, the whole pace of the contest would slow down."

Lenahan and his coaching staff not only helped the freshman adjust to soccer but they also took a special interest in helping the student-athlete adjust to his new surroundings. "We called the Mullarkeys back in England and basically told them that his son would be taken care of over here. We just wanted to let Jamie's dad know that his child would be looked after at Lafayette."

It was during one of these conversations with Mr. Mullarkey that Lenahan and Bohn mentioned a 2000 Lafayette graduate who was playing professional basketball for the Newcastle Eagles. So with the Lafayette staff looking after Jamie, Mr. Mullarkey outstretched his hand to Brian Ehlers and made sure the former Leopard would be looked after in England.

With that said, Mr. Mullarkey called Ehlers and invited him to dinner one night and as it turns out, dinner with the Mullarkeys is a common occurrence for the former two-time Patriot League Player of the Year.

"Having the Mullarkeys to go to and just hang out with here has been a real help," the 6-5 Ehlers said. "They have me over for dinner and they come to all of my home games so it's nice support to have so far away from home."

"The way that situation worked out, it's so ironic that it's almost not coincidental," Lenahan commented. "We became Jamie's surrogate parents when he came over from England and the Mullarkeys are looking out for Brian for all of us at Lafayette."

The transition Ehlers made from being a student-athlete to earning a living as a basketball player in a different country wasn't easy, but the support he had from everyone back home and his new friends in Newcastle helped ease his mind. He had to adjust to a brand new culture in which basketball is not top priority. Instead, the focus is on soccer.

"That was kind of weird to see first hand because soccer is no where near as big in America as it is here. It took some getting used to just like everything else but sometimes it still seems odd."

Mullarkey, in the mean time, is trying to get used to the American slang and traditions while also trying to decide on a major. "It's been a bit of a culture shock for me. Just day-to-day things seem totally different here," he said. "The academics here are a lot more intense than what I was prepared for so my biology major quickly changed to an undeclared status."

Ehlers and Mullarkey have never officially met. They haven't even spoken on the phone or exchanged e-mails. But Mullarkey is anxious to meet his parents' new friend and see what all of the talk is about. "I have never met him but I get to go back home for a month over Christmas so I can't wait to meet this person my parents are just gushing about," he said.

Ehlers echoes the eagerness to meet the son he hears so much about during his dinner visits with Jamie's parents, but he doesn't have much advice for the freshman soccer star on adjusting to life at Lafayette. "Looking at his stats and where the team has come in the season, it looks like he has a pretty good handle on things over there," he commented. "He seems to have everything under control."

As Mullarkey and the Leopards prepare to host the Patriot League Tournament this weekend, Lenahan tries to keep one thing at the front of his team's mind: momentum can change with the blink of an eye and no one can be ruled out of contention.

"This league is wide open and we showed that you can't rule any team out of it, no matter how battered they may seem," he said. "What we did earlier in the season, the turnaround we made, it's just a great example of what not quitting and not giving up can do for a team. We always believed in the program and we do things the right way so it just shows the determination of our team."