Before and after the games at MNP Park, it’s hard to find Nick Jeffs, the starting goalkeeper for the Carleton Ravens, without a smile on his face.
His cheerful demeanour shouldn’t fool anyone—Jeffs is a fierce driven competitor on the soccer field, according to David Monk, his teammate and fellow goaltender.
“Goalies are a bit of a different position. I see us as a bit of a team within the team,” Monk said. “When Nick first came, he started making an immediate impact on this mini-team that we [Monk and back-up goalie Jared Maloney] had. He is a very, very competitive person and he will push you right to the edge.”
Jeffs is coming off of a season that saw his team win a bronze medal at the U Sports nationals, and was named a Ontario University Athletics (OUA) East first team all-star.
This was the second year that Carleton had earned a spot in the national championships, improving from their sixth-place finish last year to third-place. It also marked Jeffs’ second year on the team.
Jeffs came onto the team in 2017 with seven other members of Carleton’s starting 11, including future OUA all-stars Christopher Malekos, Diego Politis, Gabriel Bitar and, future OUA MVP Dario Conte.
“I played three years down in [The University of] Louisville, and I thought about transferring to another school in the States, focusing on a career and starting my career that way . . . I was thinking I wasn’t going to continue playing soccer.” Jeffs said.
Though he didn’t have a negative experience at Louisville, he said it just wasn’t the right fit and decided to transfer to Carleton, a school in his hometown.
“It’s like anything you do—some people had a positive experience there, some people didn’t . . . Some people love a certain place, some people don’t,” Jeffs said.
He went on to express his gratitude to Carleton for giving him a second chance.
“It’s just so hard to know what you want to do with your life when you’re 18 . . . I made the safe choice coming home,” he said.
When he came home to Ottawa, it wasn’t Jeffs’ priority to play soccer, a choice that led him to becoming an OUA all-star.
He used to work under Kwesi Loney, the Ravens men’s soccer coach, at In Two Sports, a sports store. Jeffs said he had a good working relationship with Loney as a result.
“[Loney] always said if I ever came home, there was always a place for me, and I wasn’t sure at first,” Jeffs said.
Jeffs was convinced when he saw the recruiting class coach Loney was bringing in for the year.
“I was like ‘okay, might as well give it a try. There’s nothing to lose’—and obviously it’s really worked out since then,” Jeffs said. “I loved every minute since I stepped on the pitch.”
Since he came to Carleton, there has been a tremendous amount of success for the program.
However, it hasn’t come without its downs as the team has suffered tough losses over the last two years–including two OUA championship finals and early exits from nationals.
The most stinging loss for Jeffs was the loss against the Université de Montréal Carabins in the first round of the national championships in 2017. Snowy conditions created a slippery ball that led to some uncharacteristically soft goals against him.
“When you see something like that, the first reaction is sympathy,” Monk said, adding that nobody on the team blamed Jeffs at the time.
Jeffs, however, held himself to a higher standard.
“I think that’s the worst game I’ve ever played, at least on the big stage,” Jeffs said. “I remembered walking off the field and saying ‘that’s on me, guys.’ Even I talked to coach Kwesi and I was like ‘I have to come back—no way that can be my last game.’”
The loss sparked a fire in Jeffs, who trained with the Ottawa Fury this past summer to prepare for the 2018 season. Jeffs said he always worked hard but this year, there was “extra bit more motivation.”
“Training with the Fury too—it’s such a high level . . . The game play is so fast. It just makes you better,” Jeffs said.
Former team captain Tristan St-Pierre, who has known Jeffs for the better part of 10 years, noticed a change in Jeffs after the game against the Carabins.
“After that there was a little bit of lull—a little bit of questioning himself,” St-Pierre said. “But, then he came into winter with a real good attitude to get back on it. Obviously there was a little bit of shake as you try to recover from it . . . But then, he applied himself even harder—a noticeable physical difference in the gym.”
He added how the increased training in the gym helped Jeffs deal with a more intense OUA season, an adjustment from the more spread-out NCAA calendar Jeffs played at Louisville.
The team will also be keeping most of its core together for the upcoming 2019 season, with the most notable loss being St. Pierre.
Although Jeffs said he refuses to think about outcomes for next year’s nationals in Montréal, one thing is for certain.
“I think that everyone wants a different colour on their medal for next year.”
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Image by Tim Austen
