It’s been a good four years for senior Colton Bloecher, star midfielder for the men’s soccer team. He received All-American and Academic All-American honors in 2013 and 2014 and was the team scoring leader for the past three; he’s twice been North Coast Athletic Conference Offensive Player of the Year. This interview has been edited for length.
The Transcript: Could you talk about what that was like, going into the national championship as a freshman?
Colton Bloecher: It’s definitely something you don’t realize until you’re a senior how big it was. My first game that I played in here was against Messiah, they came here, they were number one and Roy Rike was completely packed and I didn’t realize at the time how big of a game that was, which was probably good for me as a freshman, but I think it’s a lot easier as a freshman.
T: You’ve gotten a lot of awards the past few years…could you talk about what that’s like, how it’s impacted your playing?
CB: Yeah, that was a goal of mine coming in, was to be an All-American and then when I got it as a junior to be a two-time All-American but I think that my ultimate goal was to win a national championship as a senior, which we obviously got close to doing but not quite.
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T: You’re also an Academic All-American, so what was it like having to balance soccer and classes all four years?
CB: Jay makes that easy, I think, because he’ll tell you that if there’s ever a conflict the academics come first but at the same time I think that’s just a personality thing and I think that especially guys who are good in the classroom and are willing to put in the hours, that success translates on the field.
T: Jay Martin is probably one of if not the best coaches in college soccer history, what’s it been like to play for him for four years?
CB: It’s been everything I could have wanted from a college soccer coach. I’ve worked for him, I’ve been here all the time and he’s a great coach, a great teacher and for me, he’s become a great friend so I don’t think you get that in many places so that’s been awesome for me.
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