If skeptics thought Syracuse men’s soccer defender Chris Aloisi wasn’t going to return to his old form this season, all nonbelievers should have been persuaded last weekend.

In the Orangemen’s first two games — Aloisi’s first regular season action in over a year — the junior captain started and played “admirably,” head coach Dean Foti said.

“In the first game,” Foti said, “we were under the gun because we were defending the whole time, and I thought he did as well as could be expected.”

Aloisi’s 2001 season ended before it began when he tore the medial collateral ligament and meniscus in his right knee. That injury, sustained in the Orangemen’s first preseason scrimmage, forced Aloisi to redshirt a year that looked promising.

“(Sitting out) was real tough in the sense of how much time I missed,” said Aloisi, an all-region selection in 1999 and 2000. “You’re just sitting there, and you know you can’t really help your team. All you’re basically going to be is a cheerleader on the sidelines.”

Not only did Aloisi feel frustrated by his knee injury, so did his family and high school coach, Tom Bouklas, back home in North Babylon.

Bouklas remembers an incident at a tournament in Connecticut in which Aloisi, a four-year varsity player at St. John the Baptist, banged heads with an opponent. The trainer suspected Aloisi had probably sustained a concussion.

“Ten minutes later, he’s up next to me saying, ‘I’m ready to go back in,’ ” Bouklas said. “It’s just the way he is. He wants to play all the time.”

Aloisi’s father, Richard, also remembers his son’s constant passion for soccer.

“(His knee injury) is a tough thing when his whole life is soccer,” Richard said.

The loss of Aloisi hurt Syracuse in the backfield. The Orangemen surrendered 2.1 goals per game without him, compared to 1.4 with him in 2000. Syracuse struggled to a 7-8-1 record last year with Aloisi on the sideline.

“He’s distinguished himself as an elite player, and during his sophomore year he did that,” Foti said. “He marked some of the best players in the country — who are playing in the MLS right now — right out of games.”

Aloisi started rehab right after sustaining his injury. To make sure the knee was strong enough for surgery, he went through almost 12 weeks of electronic stimulation, wearing a knee brace and icing his knees. Aloisi has been pain-free pretty much since his surgery in early December.

And the Orangemen are excited that their 2001 captain is back.

“He’s a mature player,” said Foti, in his 12th year as SU’s head coach. “He’s a guy who we trust his judgment. He’s one of the guys who the rest of the team will follow.”

Although Aloisi played in the Orangemen’s preseason games, he was eager to retake the field in the regular season.

“The preseason was good, and it was really good to get back in that sense,” Aloisi said. “This weekend, we started off rough (SU lost its first two games). But getting back on the field with all the guys, and being 100 percent for the first time in a while felt real good.”

As for Aloisi’s play, he, along with the rest of the Orangemen, hope he can step in like he never missed a beat.

“Personally,” Aloisi said, “I want to re-establish myself.”

Published on September 4, 2002 at 12:00 pm