As I begin to write my Senior Salute, I find it hard to believe that my four years here at Saint Mary’s have really come to an end. I have countless unforgettable memories, both on the field and off, that I will cherish for the rest of my life. The friendships that I have made as part of the soccer program will never once be taken for granted and will never once be forgotten. I think I learned something new about myself and the game of soccer almost every day. I feel so lucky to have been part of the Saint Mary’s soccer program, and I know that I was fortunate enough to meet some great people along the way.
Firstly, I must thank my family. Dad, you are probably the greatest man I know in my life, and you have done so much for me to make me the person I am today. You come to every game you can, you make the two-hour drive on a regular basis just so that you can see me play in a 90-minute soccer game. You have probably bought me close to 30 pairs of soccer shoes throughout my life; starting when I was 3 and started playing soccer. You never once complained or hesitated to make sure that I had everything I needed and believe me it does not go unnoticed. Thank you for everything, Dad, I love you so much and I more than appreciate what you have done for me, these words can’t even really explain how thankful I really am. Mom, you are amazing. I love you so much and you have done so much for me and, just like dad, it does not go unnoticed. I am so lucky to have such a loving and proud mother. To my older sister Frances, again thank you for always being there, I love you and you may be the greatest sister a guy can have. I remember the time when you drove like 40 minutes out of your way when I was in Seattle with the soccer team just to take me out to dinner one last time, because you knew I wouldn’t see you again until Christmas, I owe you. To my little sister Lauren, I love you and I am so thankful that you are a part of my life, keep being such a goof ball. I wouldn’t trade you for anything Lauren, I love you so much. To all of my Family, I love you and I owe you, I owe you a lot, and I can’t wait till I get to take you out to dinner for once.
To my coaches: Dembiec, Perrigo, Buchanan and McCaslin, you guys have been great and I will never forget any of you. Dembiec, our four years together have been great, you are a great coach and I cherish all of the memories and times we had together, even your crazy idea to put me at outside mid. I know that you haven’t found the type of success that you are looking for yet, but I am confident that you will shortly. You are a great coach, a great person, and a great team leader. Thank you for everything, I am blessed to have had such a wonderful coach. Perrigo, your just a straight goof and even though you will never read this I still wanted to thank you. Buchanan, you are the funniest man I have ever met, and also probably the scariest. Thank you Buchanan for your great wisdom on the field, you will not be forgotten, I one day hope to have bulging calf muscles like you. McCaslin, even though I only knew you for one year I still am very grateful for everything you have done for us, I know it must have been hard coming from a winning D1 school to here, but you stuck with us. Thank you.
To my teammates and my friends here at Saint Mary’s, you guys are amazing and I love you all, I am so lucky to have spent time with you guys here at Mary’s. Rad – I know that you will probably think that my Salute is “Fricking Stupid,” but that’s OK, because you think that about everything. It was amazing to spend four years with you here at Saint Mary’s, you are a great person and probably one of my favorite players to watch on the field — because I never know what you’re going to do next, which is probably a bad thing sometimes, considering you got demoted to defense with me in our last year. Boussie: you are the craziest kid I have ever met, you literally scare the living hell outta me some nights. With that being said, I am so happy to spend these 4 years with you. Please stay out of jail. Lindsay: I can’t really say enough about how much our friendship means to me, you have basically been my roommate for 4 years and I love you man. I will never forget any of our times together, especially our semester in Italy. You are my best friend here at Saint Mary’s I am proud to say that. Jua: You are so awesome, you don‘t even know how awesome you are. You are so money that you don’t even realize how money you are. I wish you were around my sophomore year so that we could have had one more great year together. I wish you the best and I know we will continue to be friends. These 4 guys are the guys that I came in with, we have been through the ups and downs of this program for the last 4 years. I love these guys so much and I will never forget how much they mean to me.
Gas: you are just straight nuts man, but I love it. Keep doing what you’re doing and don’t ever change, thank you for all the great memories. Closet in 4 minutes. Neu: I love you man, you are the grittiest player I have ever played with, and you are the definition of hard work. Don’t stop doing what you’re doing, and remember that on Saturday nights around 11:00 it’s usually T-Shirt Time! Cabs iz here! Tony O: You are the biggest baby I have ever met, you are just a big baby, in the body of a giant. Go Twins! Chris Williams: Thanks for the great memories roomy, I had fun watching the Shore with you, and I am glad that we are friends. I am also glad that you haven’t set me on fire when you listen to your devil chant music. Thank you for not setting me on fire, I really appreciate it. Kam: I’m seriously going to come back next year and beat you if you don’t bring me some Georgian Peaches. With that being said, I love you kiddo, stay short.
Lusch: Can’t wait to come back during alumni weekend and listen to purple hills with you. Meyer: I will destroy you in smash anytime, seriously I’m just that much better than you. So SHUT UP. Gunnar: I had a lot of fun with you in the back line, for the most part. After you graduate maybe I will take you to norwegia? Good luck man. Heeeeeeeeeeeeeeiiiiiiiiiiiiii. Bina: I don’t think I have anything negative to say about you, oh wait jk yes I do. I don’t know why anyone would ever take number 2, especially after Volini had it, I warned you and look what happened, you have 0 points and you’re now playing defense. Ji Hoon: stay classy.
To all the freshmen: Good luck with everything here at Saint Mary’s, I know you will all be great and I can’t wait to come back and see you guys in the years to come. Good luck boys.
Volini: I dunno if you will ever see this, but I love you man, you are so awesome, and I miss hanging out with you. I had no shins to kick before the game this year. Big Jon: I am so happy that I got to help you break the shots faced record a few years ago, you’re welcome. And I think you know why I wanted to play college hockey.
To our athletic trainer Mary: You are the greatest trainer in the history of training. You are so awesome and believe me when I say that what you do for us does not go unnoticed. I thank you so much for everything you have done, you are amazing and keep doing what you do best, and what you love to do.
To anyone that I have missed I apologize but I never realized just how hard it is to put the four best years of your life onto a piece of paper.
With all that being said, I thank you Saint Mary’s for all the great memories, all the great people, and all the great times. Does anyone remember when I scored two goals in a 2-1 OT win? I do! That was the highlight of my career, even though the goalie may or may not have been unconscious on the goal line after smashing his head. Oh well, I placed the ball right down the middle like the best of them.
I guess there is nothing left to be said s o…
Big Gulps, huh?
Well, see you later! |
