THE CORNELL DAILY SUN | Thursday, October 24, 2013 15
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W I L L I A M S MEN’S
SOCCER
CONNOR ARCHARD / SUN SENIOR PHOTOGRAPHER
Looking back | Senior captain Ben Williams said the moment the team found out it was the Ivy League Champion is one of his favorite team memories.
Sports Editor and 10 Questions columnist Haley Velasco sat down with men’s soccer senior captain Ben Williams to talk about Lupe Fiasco, older siblings and the end of the regular season. 1. You are a senior captain of the men’s soccer team. What has Cornell soccer meant to you over the last four years? It has really been an amazing experience for me, just growing as an individual [and] also as far as the friends and relationships that I have made. Looking back to four years ago, I couldn’t imagine how amazing it would turn out to be. The brothers that I have made and my relationship with the coaches, it has been awesome. What has the role of captain been like for you this year? I think that the captain role for me has really played out in two different parts: one, with the young guys, mentoring them and just helping them. With such a large class, they kind of need that direction. I just want to leave a legacy for them of how we do things at Cornell soccer and our work mentality. On top of that, [it’s been about focusing on] the team as a whole. In good times and in bad, you have to be there, helping the team in the right direction and always thinking about those things. Those two roles have been what I have focused on as a captain. It has been challenging, but I think that I have really grown as an individual from it. 2. Can you pinpoint one of your favorite memories of being on the team? I think this is pretty common
throughout the team. Last year, we were sitting in Stephen Reisert’s living room when we found out that we were Ivy League champions. It was a crazy night not knowing if Dartmouth was going to win or what was going to happen. When we finally got the news, we celebrated. It was an amazing feeling and I will never forget it. 3. You are from Indiana. What’s the thing that reminds you most about home? I would say when other parents come and cook for us — like, Stephen’s mom is an amazing cook, and she brings us food all the time. That’s what I really relate to home — really good food. Are you a good cook yourself? Not at all. I don’t cook at all. Dining hall all the time. What’s your favorite dining hall then? RPCC. I go to North like pretty much every night. 4. I heard that you have an older sister. What was it like growing up being the little one? It was interesting. She is a little protective of me. It was kind of cool because she paved the way through high school for me. I had some older friends on the soccer team because of her so that was great. But when it came to girls and stuff like that, she was pretty protective. My girlfriend will probably read this and be like, yes. 5. If we opened up your music playlist before a game, what would be on it? Definitely Lupe Fiasco. The guys give
me a tough time because that’s by far my favorite. It’s what I listen to all the time. It’s probably not really expected if you know me or my personality but something clicked when I was younger and I have stuck with it. What’s your favorite Lupe song? My favorite Lupe song … “Fighters.” It’s a little bit of the more sensitive side of me, but yeah, I really like that song a lot. 6. Do your teammates have any nicknames for you? What do they call you? They call me Billiams. To me, I think it’s the lamest nickname of all times; ‘let’s smash your first name with your last name.’ A senior did it when I was a fresh-
“Looking back to four years ago, I couldn’t imagine how amazing it would turn out to be.” Ben Williams man and somehow that stuck. Some guys, that’s all they will call me. 7. If you could pick anyone for your last Slope Day, who would it be? I would be cool if Lupe came again. I went to the concert when he came here before and it was awesome. But I really like Imagine Dragons recently and I think that would be pretty cool. 8. If you could trade places and be on
any of the women’s sports team at Cornell, which team would you choose and why? I would probably pick field hockey or women’s soccer. They are whom I know the most. Do you think that you would be good at field hockey? We tried it one time at the Red Key at Schoellkopf and we had these kids come out and play and we played together. It was really hard. I hurt my back a lot so I don’t know if I have the lower back strength for it. 9. If you could play with any professional soccer player, who would it be? Sergio Ramos. One, he is really good. My teammates would also give me a tough time for this, but I think that he has so much swag. I would love to hang out with him, especially on the soccer field. 10. You have four regular season games left and then potentially the postseason. What does that mean to you? Are you feeling a little sentimental? I am trying really hard not to be. It’s difficult because I can’t help but think and have this countdown in my head of four games, two home games left ever and one [of those] under the lights. It definitely creeps in, but Coach has had a lot of talks about handling those emotions and using them in a positive way, so that’s what I am trying to do. Haley Velasco can be reached at sports-editor@cornellsun.com.