The Great Nick Holland

Nick Holland, a junior at Greenville University, has really shown his presence this past season on the GU Men’s Soccer team. His accomplishments and ability to perform in his role on the team have proved him to be an above average athlete. His position on the field is the goalkeeper, which is one of the important roles on the team. Why? Because he stops the other teams from scoring!

Holland is from Ajax, Ontario in Canada. Head coach Chris Swift has recently been recruiting men from different countries to create a very diverse group of men. Holland has played soccer since he was five years old. With that type of history, soccer has become more than just a game, it is now a part of his life. His persistence in the sport has allowed him to work himself up to the starting line on varsity. Holland is currently double majoring in Biology and Chemistry, which is a heavy load for an athlete, but Holland makes it work.,

This has been a rememberable season for Holland having accomplished several different awards. The team had a great year as well, going 15-5-2, ending the season in the first round of the NCAA National tournament at Calvin College. The road to get to that point included many very close games and a lot of them coming down to the last minutes. Holland has made a huge impact on this team’s defense.

He showed out in the semifinals against Webster University with three saves helping the team win in penalty kicks at the end of the game. Also, Holland had five saves in the conference game against Iowa Wesylan College overpowering them with the score of 1-0. This performance earned him NCCAA Division I Men’s Soccer Defensive student-athlete of the week award. Holland also made the SLIAC All-Conference second team because of his performance on the field. Jesus Hernandez, who is also a goalkeeper for GU, stated “[Holland] is an unsung hero. There were a lot of games that came down to the wire, and Nick made a lot of saves in games that we won that has gone unsaid.”

Good seasons like the one our men’s GU soccer team just had, often bring a lot more knowledge to a team. This season, Holland has learned to step up and be a leader on the team. This was his first season as an upperclassman and also starts on the team, so he knew that his role is something he had to get a custom too. Holland looks up too and respects the seniors for making sure this season went as smoothly as it did. The team and Holland were excited to make it to the NCAA Tournament and hope to make it further in the tournament in the years to come.

Check out my audio interview with Nick Holland below!