Changing a culture

As a sixth grader, Michael Thomas found himself as the last line of defense between a former professional soccer player and the net while goalkeeping in his 18-year-old brother's men's league game.

A shot was fired directly at him. Thomas made the save "out of pure self-defense," but sprained both his wrists with the effort.

Thomas prided himself on showing toughness around his brother, and he was able to finish the half in goal. His courage stuck with him throughout his playing and coaching careers.

He had known exactly what he wanted to do with his life since the second grade: he would attend college, play professionally and then become a coach. Thomas now stands at the third and final stage of his lifelong dream - as the Buffalo women's soccer head coach.

"At a really young age [I realized soccer was my passion]," Thomas said. "I was always a soccer junkie."

Thomas is entering his sixth season at UB. Before arriving in Buffalo, he assisted at three others schools - including women's soccer powerhouse the University of Denver - and excelled as a player, starting at Fort Lewis College in Colorado for three seasons before going on to play professionally. Thomas is taking his successes and lessons from when he played and bringing them over to change the culture of Buffalo women's soccer, a program that hasn't had much success.

When he was 13, Thomas would attend his brother's men's league games. On occasion, a team would be short and they would allow him to play, although he was much younger than the rest of the players.

He learned certain intricacies of soccer much earlier than most kids.

"You learn so much [playing with older guys] and the first thing is toughness," Thomas said. "I wasn't always the best soccer player, but I was never scared of any situation. It was the situations I was put in when I was very young that helped develop my personality as a player and as a coach."

With the help of his older brother, David, Thomas was able to make his dream of playing soccer a reality. David needed someone to play goalkeeper so he could practice his shot and Thomas, although five years younger, fulfilled the role. The big brother would fire shots on Thomas and the two began to play more often together, which fueled a fire in Thomas for the rest of his life.

"He'd invite me to play with his friends but if I got the invitation, I better be really good that day," Thomas said. "He would tell me: 'If you come up and you are a wimp or don't do what you are supposed to do, you may not be invited back next time.' So I'd spend the next hour trying to kill all my brother's friends."

Contact and soccer went hand-in-hand for Thomas his entire life. When playing with his brother's friends, his physical play ensured him the opportunity to play again. He was then able to bring this attitude to organized soccer and his love for the game flourished.

"When I was a kid, I enjoyed contact and I went to a soccer camp and a kid came out on a breakaway and [I] went through this kid and [he] was hurt and the coach praised me," Thomas said. "I thought that was the greatest thing ever, and from that point on I wanted to be a goalkeeper."

His talents in net landed him the opportunity to play soccer at Fort Lewis College, one of the most prestigious soccer schools in Division II, in Thomas' native Colorado. He became the starting goalkeeper after redshirting his first season, but not before he realized all the work he would have to put in to achieve the position.

After seeing his teammates, his first thought was, 'I'm in over my head and I better get to work.' Even though Thomas wasn't the fastest, quickest or most explosive player on the field, he focused on doing the "little things" right and was able to capture three conference championships in four years.

In his senior year, Thomas suffered an ankle injury during the preseason, and when he was cleared to return, his coach told him the starting job was no longer available. He was forced to be the backup for the remainder of his senior year. After going from a starter to a reserve, Thomas looks back and sees the experience as an opportunity to relate to and understand his players.

"It was hard [losing the starting position]," Thomas said. "I can't sit here and by any means say I was happy about it. But all of those experiences come back and help you as a coach because it's something I feel as an athlete, I had the success of being a three-year starter, playing some professional soccer, but I also had some adversities along the way I had to work through. I think as a coach having both of those experiences helps you to relate to players in different ways."

After a short professional career with the Myrtle Beach Sea Dawgs of the United Soccer League, he realized the odds were against him to ever play consistently at the highest level of soccer in America. His lack of speed continued to plague him and he found that he was no longer bigger than everybody else, like he was at Fort Lewis.

Thomas decided he was going to return to his home in Fort Collins and work at a youth soccer club. He continued in school with hopes of earning his teaching degree and became a high school soccer coach - completing his second-grade dream.

A call from a colleague, however, derailed these plans.

He was offered the chance to be an assistant coach on both the men's and women's soccer teams at the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay. He immediately seized the opportunity. Later, he coached at the University of Memphis for one season before returning to his home state as an assistant with the University of Denver.

The team's success at Denver earned Thomas attention in the national spotlight. After six seasons, he was receiving calls from all over the country and going on trips to find out which program he wanted to make his own.

When he visited Buffalo, he was sold.

"I went to one school and I had a feeling they were scrambling to make something work," Thomas said. "When I came to my interview at UB, meeting with the academic staff and the professionalism of the athletic staff and the people working in compliance really convinced me that this could really be a place you could build something."

The Bulls struggled in Thomas' first three years, winning eight games and only two in Mid-American Conference play. Thomas admitted it was difficult to work on a recruiting class immediately after being hired - considering most players already committed to schools for not only the next season, but the one after as well.

In 2011, everything clicked.

Buffalo won eight of its first 10 games in 2011, matching its combined total from the three previous seasons. The Bulls finished the season 15-5-4 (4-3-4 MAC) and won their first MAC Tournament game since 2000. Many at UB complimented Thomas on the job he and his team did that season, but he was hesitant to call the season "great."

"It was a very good season and people kept telling me what a great year we had and I cautioned the use of the word 'great' because the goal of our program is to be in the national tournament," Thomas said. "I'm not willing to use the word 'great' until we are in the national tournament. But I think it was an important step toward our goal of getting into the national tournament and the team developed at least part of the identity that we want to."

The 2012 season came down to the final game for the Bulls. They needed a win over Akron to earn a berth in the MAC Tournament and reach the postseason in consecutive seasons for the first time since 2002-03. The Zips got the better of the Bulls with an overtime goal that ended Buffalo's season earlier than expected. Thomas hopes the team learned an important lesson to carry into 2013.

"We never should have left it that close," Thomas said. "If you leave it to one game, things can happen."

Buffalo is out for revenge this year, which is evident from the offseason training program and the spring season. Courtney Mann, Katie Roberts, N'Dea Johnson and Kassidy Kidd all played well during spring ball and will look to lead the Bulls offensively. Goalkeeping has been a rock the past two seasons with senior goalkeeper Ainsley Wheldon protecting the net.

Wheldon enters the season ranked second in school history for shutouts (15), sixth in saves (311), sixth in victories (16) and sixth in goals against average (1.31). This season, however, Thomas hopes the team's success won't have to rely exclusively on her.

"We think we are in a position where we have more versatility than we had in the past," Thomas said. "Our goal every year is to compete to be a factor in the conference. The MAC is a very strong soccer conference right now [which had] two teams in national tournament last year. We believe we should be a major factor in this conference, and competing in the high end of this conference, and we are hoping to make a strong statement of the direction of this program this fall."

The Bulls kick off their season traveling to Michigan State on Aug. 23. Buffalo's first home game will be a noon start on Sept. 1 at UB Stadium.

Email: sports@ubspectrum.com