In four 90 minute soccer games, how likely would it be that one can prevent all shots from scoring even once? Bryce Horn proves himself worthy of being able to turn away a total of 31 shots over two games, earning him the title of New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) Soccer Defensive Player of the week of October 11, 2016.
Horn, sophomore marketing major, is the goalie on the Kean University Men's Soccer Team. He started playing soccer when he was five, and is now at Kean University, helping his team win against William Patterson University, Hunter College, New Jersey City University and Drew University.
"I grew up playing baseball and basketball. I was also a member of the golf team in high school. Before going into high school, I knew I needed to pick just one sport to play and focus on. So, I chose soccer because a majority of my friends played soccer as well, and it was what I was best at and liked the most," Horn says.
From Monroe Township, N.J., a 45 minute commute to Kean University, Horn decided to attend Kean University, to join the soccer team and dorm.
Horn states, "I knew that Kean University's soccer team was a program that was coming up to being one of the top schools in the country and I wanted to be a part of that process."
Now, Horn's performance on the soccer team at Kean University resulted in three shutouts, which are now part of a three-game scoreless streak for the Kean Cougars. Horn increased his scoreless streak to 210 minutes with his third consecutive shutout victory. This is the first NJAC weekly award for Horn.
"I was very proud of myself because I know I worked for it and deserved it, but I also wouldn't have been able to do it without the rest of my team. My parents were extremely happy for me and my brothers and sisters knew how much it meant to me so they were happy as well," Horn adds. "They love to watch me play since I was young, so another four years seemed amazing to them."
Horn's favorite thing about soccer has to be winning a big game or coming up with a big save and celebrating with his teammates after. Of course, as with every athlete, there are some negatives they find about the sport.
"My least favorite thing about soccer is the running, but luckily I'm a goalie, so I don't need to run as much as everyone else," Horn laughs.
So far, Horn's experience at Kean University has been nothing but good things, and he looks forward to continuing his soccer career in his upcoming semesters. He finds his time with soccer to never be pressuring, although at times he felt like giving up in the moment of a really early and hard practice. After thinking about it, he knew he would miss it too much.
His favorite soccer memory was when he won a county championship his senior year of high school.
"I owe it all to my family, friends and coaches. If it wasn't for them constantly reminding me I am good enough I would probably not be playing soccer still. I hope I do inspire or motivate any of my friends or family to take a path with sports!" Horn exclaims. "Some of my close friends now are playing soccer in college and I hope my friends and family that aren't in college yet really consider playing in college."
He plans to continue to play soccer throughout college, then see where it takes him after he is finished with school. After graduation, Horn hopes to have a good job lined up for him, as well as have a clear plan of what is next to come in his life.
Horn advises those who want to take up soccer, or sports in general, in the future to, "Keep working and never give up, you never know what will happen and hard work goes a long way."
Congratulations once again to Bryce Horn for the amazing achievement!
