Hotchkin, Pepper Put Loss in Perspective

When the two seniors first started for the Harvard men's soccer team, Mark Pepper played midfield and Nick Hotchkin was a fullback.

Four seasons later, it's Hotchkin who's dominated the midfield, and Pepper who's proven himself to be an outstanding sweeper.

Both have earned first team All-Ivy honors. Both have been touted as All-America candidates. Both have been a part of three NCAA appearances for the Crimson.

Quiet, consistent leaders. Hotchkin's stellar season came as a senior, Pepper's the year before.

At the start of this fall, it was Pepper who looked to be the team's biggest talent. He had been a consistent contributor as a junior, dominating in the air and quick on the counter-attack. But a quadricep injury kept him off the field most of the season, forcing him to captain the team from the sidelines.

"It's been a tough year for Mark," Harvard Coach Mike Getman said. "Things didn't go the way he expected. It's a big credit to him coming back with his injury."

While Pepper saw action in only five games, Hotchkin exploded to become a controlling force in the midfield--not only as a top talent, but as an on-field leader as well."

"[Nick] definitely helped pick up on the field when Mark wasn't there," Getman said. "He's a very intelligent player, and has improved a lot since the beginning of the season."

Although Hotchkin's speed has become infamous among Crimson opponents, it's a little-known fact that Pepper is probably just as fast.

His injury didn't let him show it this year, but Pepper has a quickness that makes him a dangerous sweeper, dominating the field from touch line to touch line.

Mark's speed tends to be hidden a little bit in his position," said former Harvard Coach Jape Shattuck, who directed the team during the duo's first three seasons. "Nick's speed gets exposed in his function."

Competitive Maturity

But it's not so much the skill or the speed that has made Hotchkin and Pepper standout soccer players. It's that intangible factor--what Shattuck calls "competitive maturity."

"That's one of the things about Mark and Nick--their maturity," Shattuck said. "It's a major part of talent. They're both heavily endowed with that."

Their maturity showed after Harvard's 2-1 NCAA semifinal defeat by San Diego St. on penalty kicks Saturday.

It was a time for anger, for excuses, for placing blame.

But there was none of that for Pepper or Hotchkin.

"I refuse to get down about a single game," Hotchkin said. "You've got to put it in the context of a superb season."

"It's frustrating, but there has to be a balance," Pepper echoed. "You have to look at it in the right perspective."

For Hotchkin and Pepper, that means one loss against four winning seasons, three tournament trips and a host of awards.

"They are such good individual people that they had an impact on the team that was very, very positive," Getman said. "It's nice that they both went out playing in the Final Four."

Lots of people are talking about "next year." Harvard has enough talent returning to make a serious bid for the '88 title.

But that team will owe a lot to the legacy left by Pepper and Hotchkin.