Freshman Carl Spence Reflects and Looks Ahead 
by Chioma Egbuchunam
If one were to see Carl Spence walking through the halls of Mercy College, they would be greeted with an infectious smile, and warmed with the youthful enthusiasm of an eager college student. If they were to see him in the Mercy College Learning Center on a weekday afternoon, chances are that he would be seen helping a fellow classmate, as well as completing his own assignment. If they were to see him in the cafeteria, he would most likely be making someone smile or laugh due to his undeniable charisma.
What they wouldn't know, is that as a freshman goalkeeper for the Mercy College men's soccer team, Spence played just under a 1000 minutes with only 12 goals against, and made an impressive 56 saves; as well as receiving an East Coast Conference (ECC) Rookie of the Week honor.
Spence arrived in the United States and at Mercy College this summer from St. Catherine's, Jamaica, where he started playing soccer competitively at a very young age. He played on various club teams, as well as on his school team. His talents exceed that of just playing in net; he spent time as both a central defender and an attacking wing player.
As a multi-talented athlete, he has fond memories of playing cricket in his younger days, which he says was his first love. He played both cricket and soccer simultaneously, but eventually chose soccer with the encouragement of others, believing his future in the sport would be an extremely bright and successful one.
Spence is a media studies major at Mercy College, and aims to be a sports journalist one day. His first dream is to play soccer professionally, but wants to work in sports media regardless of where his life takes him. "My life is sports," said Spence, who has interned as a reporter with a youth sports magazine in Jamaica. "It is always going to be an important part of my life, whether I'm playing or reporting it."
Before he embarks on following his dream of playing professionally, Spence will be playing his collegiate soccer and honing his skills with the Flyers. As this was his first season in college sports, the difference of play took him by surprise early on. "The style of play is definitely more organized and aggressive, which makes it more competitive than anything I've previously experienced," said Spence. "A team could be down 3-0, but yet play like it's a tied game."
Though different from what he was used to, he was filled with excitement and eagerness to take on this new challenge. The competition drives Spence even more as an individual, and makes him want to work as hard as he can to be the best for his teammates and coach.
Cogan Dowden, a senior on the Mercy men's soccer team said of his teammate, "Carl is a great goalkeeper. He kept us going through the season, and he has a very bright future ahead of him."
Spence's goal for the season was very simply to be the best goalkeeper he could be. When asked his feelings on his individual performance this season, Spence's eyes seem far off in a distance, and he merely replies, "underperformed and underachieved," as he feels he did not completely live up to his own expectations.
While he did not meet his own lofty goals, his performance opened eyes throughout the league and quickly made an impact on a very strong squad. When asked how it felt to be selected as Rookie of the Week, he replied, "It showed I was improving my game towards the end of the season, and I'm happy about that."
With a year under his belt, Spence's goals for next season are to help his team win an ECC Championship, and on a personal level, play well enough to be considered for selection to the All-ECC team. He knows that to do this hard work is required, and he is ready to step up to that challenge.
The Mercy men's soccer team had a good season, finishing at 6-5-3 overall, just falling short of a playoff spot with a 3-2-3 league record. Ever the team player, Spence wishes he could have done more for his team. He knows that a goalkeeper has a very important job of keeping the team in the game, but at the same time he'd like to be helping out on offense.
"Sometimes it kills me to be in net because I want to be on the field helping my team-mates in other ways," said Spence. "Our team does a fantastic job of attacking, I just wish I could chip in more."
He is extremely excited about next season, and will settle for nothing less than his team making a run at an ECC Championship. Talking about the season past, makes him think of missed opportunities, but now he has the opportunity to learn from them. This fuels his desire to be nothing less than perfect next season, and to be the best player that he can be for his team.
Spence's drive both on and off the field is extremely admirable. If his winning mentality is anything to base the future off of, then the future of Mercy men's soccer is a bright one.
