By Jim Hague
Nicole Gomez was perfectly happy with playing soccer at Caldwell University.
“I was really attached to the soccer team there,” said Gomez, who played her high school soccer at Elmwood Park. “The girls there were amazing. It was the hardest part of my decision to leave.”
After one year at Caldwell, Gomez decided to transfer to Rutgers-Newark.
“It was completely different than Caldwell,” Gomez said. “There’s always something going on. Caldwell is a smaller school. I wanted to be at a bigger school. I wanted to get out and be me in a city environment.”
Gomez was a little concerned about fitting in with her new teammates.
“That was actually kind of surprising,” Gomez said. “Ever since the first day I came to Rutgers-Newark, I was always welcomed.”
It didn’t hurt that Gomez arrived with her best friend, defender Angelika Barris. The two decided to come to R-N together.
“She transferred from the University of Bridgeport,” Gomez said of Barris. “We wanted to come into a school together.”
Gomez said that she fit right in right away.
“After the first couple of days getting to know everyone, it was great,” Gomez said. “I knew that this was basically a new team and it could be our year. They said that they needed more help handling the ball and that’s me. I wanted to be able to contribute to that right away.”
Gomez said that she looked into the R-N program before she arrived.
“I did some research and found out that in previous years, they didn’t have a great record,”
Gomez said. “With basically a new team, I had a chance to contribute right away.”
The Scarlet Raiders had a new coach in Ariana Ruela.
“She’s helped us tremendously,” Ruela said of Gomez. “She has good feet. She’s a very technical player. She’s the one feeding the passes into the box. She’s also outside creating space. She’s excellent in the midfield and has fit in really well with what we had coming back.”
Ruela likes the fact that Gomez is so brutally unselfish.
“She’s the kind of player who doesn’t get the goal or the assist, because she’s like the second or third pass,” Ruela said. “Those kinds of players don’t get the recognition. She’s very creative with the ball. She’s always working hard. If you watch us, Nicole is the one who is feeding us the passes.”
Ruela also believes that Gomez has turned into a team leader in such a short time.
“This is her first year and she has a bunch of junior players around her,” Ruela said. “She has more of a quiet personality, but she’s growing into a leader on the field. She demands the ball and gets us going. But she’s still a quiet kid.”
The result has been one goal and seven assists in 22 games, starting 21 of them. She has helped the Scarlet Raiders to a 14-8-1 record and will face Bard College in the second round of the ECAC Division III Metro/Upstate championships Saturday in Riverdale, NY.
The Scarlet Raiders advanced to the second round of the postseason tourney with a 4-3 win over New Jersey Athletic Conference foe Ramapo, 4-3.
Needless to say, Gomez has fit right in with her new surroundings.
“I like it here,” Gomez said. “I’m glad I came here. Instead of worrying about having to take the shot, I make the passes. I love getting assists.”
But that role will change next year, when two of the Scarlet Raiders’ top goal scorers, namely Cristina Estremera and Sara Corson graduate.
“I need to work on my shot, because I need to step up and be more of a scorer,” Gomez said. “I want to be the one to lead the team and fill the spot where they left off.”
Ruela is counting on that.
“Next year, I need her to take the opportunity and run with it,” Ruela said. “She has been a good player for us, but I need a little more from her. She has to work on her shot and she knows it. We have to find a way to get her to score more. She definitely has the ability. She has to recognize when the shot is open, she has to take it.”
Ruela loves that Gomez is defensive minded first.
“That’s what I tell all of my players,” Ruela said. “We have to play defense first. Every one of them has to think about dropping back and helping the defense. Nicole gets the job done that way. She gets the job done on both ends, both offensively and defensively. But she’s also a cornerstone to this program for the future.”
Gomez is a biology major at R-N. She hopes to become a physical therapist one day.
“I first wanted to be an athletic trainer, but I never realized how truly important physical therapists are,” Gomez said. “I want to make a difference in people’s lives. I like the field a lot.”
So Gomez is pleased to be a Scarlet Raider.
“I miss my old team, but we’re having a great year here and I’m enjoying my time with the team and with school. I’m glad I made the choice to come here.”
NOTE: This profile was written prior to Scarlet Raider women's soccer playing in the ECAC semifinal and final on November 14 and 15.
