Kuzan Shines in Fifth Season in Net
9/28/2012 12:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer
Seton Hall University men's soccer redshirt senior goalkeeper Michael Kuzan (Union, N.J.) was named the BIG EAST Conference Goalkeeper of the Week on Sept. 24, and the BigAppleSoccer.com Goalkeeper of the Week on Sept. 25, after a pair of outstanding performances.
He stopped what was then a career-high 13 shots in Seton Hall's 2-1 win at Delaware, and then made 14 saves in a narrow 1-0 loss at Syracuse in the Pirates' BIG EAST opener.
In six starts so far this season, the SHU keeper has posted a 3-3 record with a 1.83 goals against average while making 41 saves with a .788 save percentage, all career-best numbers just halfway through the season.
"Our defense was solid last week, they didn't really give up many crazy shots or anything like that and if they did I was there," Kuzan said. "They cut off a lot of angles so we could avoid giving up goals. I just had to stand my ground and make some good saves."
For Kuzan the 2012 season almost didn't happen. After graduating last spring he planned to take a few years off from school before heading back to pursue an M.B.A., but those plans quickly changed when received a call from first-year Seton Hall head coach Gerson Echeverry, only two weeks before the start of the season.
Kuzan redshirted his freshman year at Seton Hall, leaving the door open for an additional season because of an extra year of NCAA eligibility. Echeverry convinced him to suit up one more time and the results have been rewarding.
"Coach called me and said ‘we really want you and we think you have something still to prove,' since I didn't really play that much over my first four years, and he was right," said Kuzan. "I just couldn't turn down the opportunity to get more education and go to graduate school, and I thought might as well play soccer while doing it."
Aiding Kuzan's efforts between the pipes has been the addition of goalkeeper coach Guillermo ‘Memo' Valencia, who joined Echeverry's staff over the summer and is the first goalkeeper specific coach that Kuzan has worked with during his time at Seton Hall.
Echeverry raved about the addition of Valencia and Kuzan echoed those sentiments. With an intense training regimen that includes new footwork drills, core strength conditioning and reaction exercises, the SHU keepers including junior Kevin Bonder (Whippany, N.J.) and sophomore Mario DeClerico (Maple Shade, N.J.) are reaping the benefits of Valencia's 16 years of professional experience.
"He (Valencia) is awesome. He is probably one of the best goalie trainers that I have ever practiced or trained with," Kuzan said. "He always tries to make us better every day. He expects 100 percent from us and if we do something wrong he will get into us, but it is in a positive manner, just to make you better."
The path to getting results on the field has not been without its fair share of competition, as Bonder has started three games in net and DeClerico is working his way back from an offseason injury. But according to Kuzan the competition has just made everyone better, knowing that there is pressure to perform every game because there is always someone else ready to step in.
The benefits of the coaching, the approach and the competition have been proven on the field. Kuzan has logged more minutes, saves and wins in 2012 than he did in his first three seasons as a Pirate, and it is all coming during a fifth season that almost never happened.
"It is awesome that just a couple of months ago I was pretty much done with soccer and only playing a little bit and now I am getting back into it, getting awards and getting recognized is just an awesome experience," Kuzan said. "It is great to see that hard work pays off."
He stopped what was then a career-high 13 shots in Seton Hall's 2-1 win at Delaware, and then made 14 saves in a narrow 1-0 loss at Syracuse in the Pirates' BIG EAST opener.
In six starts so far this season, the SHU keeper has posted a 3-3 record with a 1.83 goals against average while making 41 saves with a .788 save percentage, all career-best numbers just halfway through the season.
"Our defense was solid last week, they didn't really give up many crazy shots or anything like that and if they did I was there," Kuzan said. "They cut off a lot of angles so we could avoid giving up goals. I just had to stand my ground and make some good saves."
For Kuzan the 2012 season almost didn't happen. After graduating last spring he planned to take a few years off from school before heading back to pursue an M.B.A., but those plans quickly changed when received a call from first-year Seton Hall head coach Gerson Echeverry, only two weeks before the start of the season.
Kuzan redshirted his freshman year at Seton Hall, leaving the door open for an additional season because of an extra year of NCAA eligibility. Echeverry convinced him to suit up one more time and the results have been rewarding.
"Coach called me and said ‘we really want you and we think you have something still to prove,' since I didn't really play that much over my first four years, and he was right," said Kuzan. "I just couldn't turn down the opportunity to get more education and go to graduate school, and I thought might as well play soccer while doing it."
Aiding Kuzan's efforts between the pipes has been the addition of goalkeeper coach Guillermo ‘Memo' Valencia, who joined Echeverry's staff over the summer and is the first goalkeeper specific coach that Kuzan has worked with during his time at Seton Hall.
Echeverry raved about the addition of Valencia and Kuzan echoed those sentiments. With an intense training regimen that includes new footwork drills, core strength conditioning and reaction exercises, the SHU keepers including junior Kevin Bonder (Whippany, N.J.) and sophomore Mario DeClerico (Maple Shade, N.J.) are reaping the benefits of Valencia's 16 years of professional experience.
"He (Valencia) is awesome. He is probably one of the best goalie trainers that I have ever practiced or trained with," Kuzan said. "He always tries to make us better every day. He expects 100 percent from us and if we do something wrong he will get into us, but it is in a positive manner, just to make you better."
The path to getting results on the field has not been without its fair share of competition, as Bonder has started three games in net and DeClerico is working his way back from an offseason injury. But according to Kuzan the competition has just made everyone better, knowing that there is pressure to perform every game because there is always someone else ready to step in.
The benefits of the coaching, the approach and the competition have been proven on the field. Kuzan has logged more minutes, saves and wins in 2012 than he did in his first three seasons as a Pirate, and it is all coming during a fifth season that almost never happened.
"It is awesome that just a couple of months ago I was pretty much done with soccer and only playing a little bit and now I am getting back into it, getting awards and getting recognized is just an awesome experience," Kuzan said. "It is great to see that hard work pays off."
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