|
|
|
|
Giroux, Lyndon State College a good fit |
|
|
Tuesday, 26 August 2008 |
By JIM FULLER
Express Sports Editor
LYNDON CENTER –– Five years removed from playing soccer at North Country Union High School, Lyndon State College (LSC) goalie Jeff Giroux is ready to play his final collegiate season.
Giroux, of Derby, will be the top netminder for the Hornets for a
fourth straight season. He is a fifth-year senior – having sat out his
freshman year as a transfer from Plattsburgh (N.Y.) State in 2004.
“He could have taken enough classes last year to graduate,” LSC Head
Coach Pete Kellaway. “But he didn’t want to leave a year on the table.”
Staying an extra year will have its benefits. “It ended up so that I
have dual degrees (sports management and physical education),” Giroux
said. “I just don’t want to look back and say I wish I had played (this
year.)”
Giroux, an 2004 North Country graduate, originally went to Plattsburgh,
but after less than two weeks there, he realized it wasn’t where he
needed to be.
“I went there for the pre-season and made the team,” Giroux said. “I wasn’t going to play my freshman year. I was pretty young.
“I thought at Lyndon State I could start all four years – that it would be a better experience for me.”
Kellaway had spoken to Giroux about playing at LSC before he committed to Plattsburgh.
In the fall of 2004, with Kellaway arriving for his team’s pre-game
activities, Giroux was waiting to talk to him. “He asked me,” Kellaway
recalled, “ ‘Are you still interested?’ ”
Kellaway had Giroux on campus the next day.
“He traveled with us,” Kellaway said. “He practiced with us. That’s pretty amazing at this level.
“Outside of pure desire, there’s no reason to stick it out.”
“I practiced with them just to stay in shape,” Giroux said. “It
prepared me for my first year. It let me know what I needed to be ready
for.”
Giroux said he benefited from the extra year of preparation. He said
high school seniors looking to play in college need to “run; workout.
You need more size in college,” he said.
“And touch a soccer ball as much as you can.”
Giroux led the Hornets to the NAIA Division III playoffs in his
freshman year. “We won our conference,” Kellaway said, “basically
because of him.”
Kellaway stated LSC defeated Maine-Machias at home after double
overtime and penalty kicks in the conference semifinals. Then LSC
traveled to Maine-Ft. Kent and defeated a team that had beaten them
twice during the regular season, 2-1, to win the conference
championship.
That sent the team to Latrobe, Penn., to participate in the NAIA Division III tournament.
“Jeff was just incredible,” Kellaway said. “I’ve never seen a performance by a goalie like that [in those games.]”
Since that season, the Hornets have been making the transition to NCAA
Division III. Without much to play for the past two seasons – no
conference championship and no playoff berth – Kellaway said the team
has struggled, including an 8-9-1 mark last year .
Now a member of the North Atlantic Conference, the Hornets can again set their sight on getting in the playoffs.
“I really want to win the NAC – regular season and playoffs,” Giroux
said. “I want to be the best I can be – work hard every game. But I’d
rather win a championship than be the All-NAC first team goalkeeper.”
“He’s wicked competitive,” Kellaway said. “He’s probably one of the most competitive guys I’ve met.
“When we went to Ft. Kent for that conference championship, he stepped
up and personally told everybody, ‘I’m putting everyone on my
shoulders.’ It’s not cockiness – or boldness. He was just willing to do
his job and he expected them to do theirs.”
Giroux said his high school days at North Country were “great.” He was
the starting goalkeeper at the start of his junior year, but then broke
his ankle. He did start every game his senior year and was an All-State
and All-Metro selection. He also played in the New Hampshire-Vermont
Twin State game.
“He was as good as anybody I’ve had in goal,” Batista said. “Competitive; intense; he was a great keeper; a quality kid.
“He worked at our soccer school the last number of years. He’s excellent with kids.”
“Joe was an unbelievable coach,” Giroux said. “He knows the game in and out. He was a friend and a coach.
“He’s the whole reason I’m playing college soccer.”
Giroux was also the Lake Division player of the year in hockey his
senior season at North Country. Scoring 65 points (23 goals, 42
assists), he was also named All-State. The reason, he said, he didn’t
pursue hockey further was because prospective schools wanted him to
play junior hockey and he didn’t want to be “24 or 25” when he
graduated.
Giroux, who turned 22 August 1, and his LSC teammates will open their season September 3 at St. Michael’s College.
|
|
|
|
