C A Hill Photo

Ben Woelfinger '23 has started in goal in 10 of 11 games for the men's soccer team this season.

German Goalkeeper Backstopping the Scarlet and Brown

By Caleigh Burchfield '22

10/14/2019 11:16:00 AM

Ben Woelfinger had never played on a soccer team for a school before. Now, he is the starting goalie for the St. Lawrence University men's soccer team.

Woelfinger, a first year from Hessen, Germany, came to Canton this fall with nearly 13 years of experience playing soccer on several German club teams.

"First my plan was to succeed with soccer in Germany, but then I realized that I still have talent and I still have the ability to improve every day, but I also want to get a good education," Woelfinger says. "I had many schools interested in me, but I did research about St. Lawrence and I saw it was a really good school academically. After learning a lot about the coach, about the soccer team, and the history of the school, I knew this was a place I could play and also study four years."

Saints' head coach Mike Toshack, formerly the goalkeeper coach for Portland Timbers in Major League Soccer, is largely to be credited for Woelfinger's enrollment at St. Lawrence. Following several phone conversations and after watching the goalkeeper play, Toshack knew he wanted Woelfinger to be a Saint.

"When I was watching the things he was doing, I could see that he was a high-level goalkeeper," Toshack says. "His approach is very professional. He's been in high-level environments and you can see that in him right away. He's a really good person, too. We're looking to tick those boxes and ask ourselves what kind of people we're bringing to the team and to St. Lawrence. We knew it would be a great fit and he'd have a lot of value for campus."

The more Woelfinger spoke with the coaches and learned about St. Lawrence, the more he worked towards his goal of one day attending the university. And while the depth and magnitude of his club teams in Germany helped prepare Woelfinger for the intensity of collegiate athletics, one thing he could not predict was being the starting goalie on a team looking to defend a Liberty League title.

"I didn't expect to start right away," says Woelfinger. "I knew I had the skills to start, but it was a great challenge to come in and compete against three other goalies. For the first couple of minutes of the first game I was really nervous to start my first college game. Now after a few games, I wouldn't say its normal, but I'm used to standing in the goal. I think we've developed as a team pretty well."

That team has proven to be one of his favorite things at St. Lawrence. The competitiveness and ambition that the coaches and team share has turned into a second family at a home away from home for the goalkeeper.

"I love being with the team and I like having the same goal: to defend our Liberty League championship," Woelfinger says. "The school, in general, is a great community. Everybody is taken care of here and I feel very supported as a student-athlete. We're getting a lot of help from the coaches, and the teachers also offer to help if you don't understand anything. Everybody wants everybody to succeed."

Woelfinger's successes both on and off the field has only inspired him to work harder.

"My goal is to develop as a person and a player," he says. "I think every game, every day we develop together and we're really building a team. We've had ups and downs now, so we just have to play our game."

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