Q & A With Nick Loveless
September 15, 2005 | Men's Soccer
Sept. 15, 2005
After playing in just two matches last season, Husky defender Nick Loveless broke into the starting lineup versus Creighton and scored his first career goal versus Saint Mary's. He ranks second on the team in points, also having tallied an assist in his first collegiate start. Loveless recently sat down with GoHuskies.com's Andre Bayard prior to the team's trip to Denver to face the University of Denver and Air Force.
Gohuskies.com: How did it feel to score the winning goal against St. Mary's last game?
Nick Loveless: Words really can't even describe it. It was my first goal, with it being my second game starting, and it was just a dream come true. I went crazy after afterwards. It was something that we worked on in practice, so when it happened it was hard to believe, and I didn't think it was going to hold out, because I thought we were going to need another goal, but it stood.
GH: Can you run me through that play as you remember it?
NL: We have been running it a lot in practice, and Mike Chabala has a really long throw in, so he threw the ball in, and Ely (Allen) just came in to flick me the ball, and I was running off my man's back shoulder behind, and he lost me, and the ball was right there, and the keeper was going the wrong way, so I just slid it into the far post.
GH: Was it frustrating not getting much playing time last year?
NL: Yeah, it was rough. Everyone here used to be like the best player on their high school team, and then you come to UW, and everyone is the best player. So you just go right back to the bottom, and you have to work your way up, so it's tough. There are a lot of good players here, and we have a couple line ups that could be starting lineups, and you just have to wait for your chance. It was frustrating not getting in right away, but I had to be ready and make the best of it when I did, and this year it happened, and I scored.
GH: What did you do in the off-season to prepare for this season?
NL: I just played as much as I could. Last year it was kind of discouraging not playing a lot, and I would get a little down, but this summer I had a lot of fun, I went back to the basics--you know playing as much as I could, and getting around the ball. I played with a couple of club teams. I went to regionals with an Idaho team, and I played with a local men's team in the area. I just waited for my chance.
GH: After last season was over, what did you tell yourself mentally that you had to do to get ready for this season, not speaking on what you did during the off-season?
NL: Well mentally last year it was a shock losing so early in the NCAA tournament. We had such a good run during the regular season, and then after we lost to UCLA for the Pac-10 Championship, it was kind of like, 'what do we do from here?' We just dropped of, and it was heartbreaking to see all the seniors go through that and everything, because what we really wanted to do was be mentally strong, and peak when it came towards the end of the season. So now we are still improving and mentally we are trying to stay sharp for the post season. That is what we really want to do-we want to make a long run, so it is just more mental than anything, and we just have to know we are going to get our chance, and be sharp towards the end of the season.
GH: When did you start playing soccer?
NL: I started pretty early, when I was about five years old for a local recreational team. When I was 10, I started to play select, and I started to get more competitive. I was lucky to have a good coach early on, and my parents really encouraged me to stick with it. They drove me to practice, and they took me when I wanted to train on my own. So my parents were really supportive with that, and they were always available to help me out with anything, and I had a great coach who emphasized training on your own a lot. So it was from there at an early age.
GH: Did you play any other sports growing up, and why ultimately did you choose soccer?
NL: I played little league baseball, and little league basketball but pretty early on, at about 12 years old, I made the decision that I loved soccer the most-I was the best at it, and I wanted to drop everything else and concentrate on that. And I think it really helped me because I was able to narrow my focus and try and to improve in that.
GH: How do you like UW so far?
NL: I love it. I mean the team, the coaches-you really couldn't ask for anything better. The team chemistry this year is amazing. We hang out off the field, and we are together on the field all the time. Pretty much all the guys on the team are my best friends. And the school here is gorgeous. I grew up here locally, about 15 minutes away, so getting to play for the hometown team was kind of a big deal to me, and I just love it.
GH: What do you think makes the team such a tight knit group?
NL: I think it is just what we have been through together. We only graduated four seniors last year so the majority of the team has been through winter work outs together. Three times a week we would have 5:50 am weights together, and then at two o-clock that same day we would have another thing of weights. And then we would have practice the other four days in the week. I mean we have just been through so much together between pre-season-sweating, bleeding for each other, and we just want to work hard, and each practice we want to go out with that mentality that we are going to improve, and we want to make each other better. And that is how we treat each other on and off the field, and that really helps to improve one another.
GH: When you aren't playing soccer, what else would we find you doing?
NL: Well right now, I am just playing soccer, and that is about it because we are not in school yet, but when we have free time and stuff, I like to read, go to movies, watch movies, and hang out with my friends.
GH: What do you want to major in?
NL: Well I am still trying to decide. Right now I am saying communications, but I am kind of leading towards English, or business-but I am still trying to decide what I want to do.
GH: How has soccer helped you out in other aspects of your life?
NL: From an early age I always had to deal with the mentality that I have a game this weekend, and I am not going to go out late. I was pretty regimented, and it has helped me stay out of trouble, because I was always playing soccer, so I didn't have a whole lot of time for anything else. But more than that, it was about work ethic. On the field you have to work so hard. On this team, we push each other to work hard, and everyone is so good. And so with this team, you really learn the value of hard work, and that transfers over to the classroom and to life in general. And I think playing sports in general makes you become a better person.
GH: Do you have any funny memories from last season?
NL: I read Spencer's (Schmidt) question and answer last week, about the geese, and we have a white board in the locker room, where we kind of keep things light, and we will put things up every week, and we had a diagram of the geese flying over the fence when Spencer did that. Also, Jordan (Jennings), one of our goalkeepers was using some hurdles for speed drills, and two of the hurdles fell down, and he tried to put them together as one hurdle. It is things that are pretty funny at the time, and just inside jokes between the team. We just write things on the locker room board, and it kind of reminds us that we are here for fun.
GH: What are you looking forward to this season?
NL: I am looking forward to just playing, and I think we have just a strong team this year-we are so deep. Like I said, I got the chance to be a starter, and that is amazing. But there are so many other guys on the team-our bench is probably as equally strong as the guys on the field, and I think that is really going to help us towards the end of the season when fatigue starts setting in, and people getting injured. And especially during the playoffs, we have such a strong bench that everyone on this team can contribute, and the coaches know that, and they have been playing some guys. We've got some guys like Adam West who scored a goal-his first one, Eric Blythe scored a goal--his first one, and I scored my first one. It was all in a two week period, and we haven't even had our big names starting to score yet, so when it all comes together, we just have good team chemistry. E veryone on the team is doing so well, and it is going to definitely help us in the playoffs, so I am looking forward to that.
GH: The team has been on the road for the past few weeks, and has not yet played a home game-how is it going to feel to finally play at home next weekend?
NL: I really can't wait. Playing on the road is always tough. They always have their fans supporting them, but the Husky fans though-we have yet to encounter a school that has better fans than we do, and so I am really looking forward to getting back here, underneath the lights on Friday night, and starting in front of the home crowd. You know that is going to be really amazing. I only played in two games last year, and I really haven't had the chance to play in front of them, so I am really excited. Also I know the whole team is really pumped up to show what we have in front of the home crowd.
GH: School starts in two weeks-what are you looking forward to in school?
NL: Well right now it is really fun time, playing soccer, and kind of leading a life of a professional player almost-you know we are just playing soccer a couple times a day. But I am looking forward to school to start. I am taking some classes that I am excited about, and I am just looking forward to getting back in the swing of things.
GH: Well thank you for your time, and good luck in Colorado.
NL: Hey no problem, and thanks!
