FARMVILLE, Va. – Longwood University men’s soccer sophomore standout Christian Keilty/Spotsylvania has been named this week’s Longwood Male Athlete of the Week. Keilty registered his first career points with a goal and an assist to help lift the Lancers to a 2-1 comeback victory against Big South Conference opponent Winthrop University on October 26. He scored in the 70th minute to knot the score at 1-1 before sending a long pass up the field to junior teammate Anthony Ugorji/Washington, D.C., who played it in for the win.
Question and Answer Session with Christian Keilty and Ashley Robbins
AR: Talk about scoring your first career points against Winthrop.
CK: For my goal, Lee (Martin) did a lot of the work to put some high pressure and win the ball back. Anthony (Ugorji) managed to get the cross off and I just happened to be at the right place at the right time. The assist came with 30 seconds left. I was looking to go to goal as soon as I had it, so I turned and saw Anthony making a run. It was a tough angle, but I had to go for it and it ended up slotting through and he did well to finish it. I was pretty excited about helping to get the comeback victory.
AR: What has been the biggest change in this year’s team compared to last year?
CK: This year, we’ve done a lot better with finishing, getting in the final third and attacking. One of the biggest things for us is we have more belief that we can win these games compared to last year. Last season, it was tougher mentally. We kept losing and got used to it, but this year we go into every game thinking we can win it.
AR: Do you and the rest of the sophomore class see yourselves as leaders?
CK: We all see each other as role models to the freshmen. Both of our captains are sophomores, so we all feel the need to be leaders and step forward for each other.
AR: What are you looking forward to heading late into the season?
CK: The better we can finish in the conference, means the better place we will have in the tournament and we’re all very excited about making the tournament this year. Hopefully, we can get a Big South Championship win this year.
AR: What will having a home Big South Tournament game mean to your team?
CK: I think that would be huge. We’re unbeaten at home in conference play, so if we can get a big crowd to come out and support us, that would be huge for us mentally. It would get us really pumped up.
AR: Why did you end up choosing Longwood?
CK: I chose Longwood because it’s close to home and it has a Division I program. I liked that it was a smaller school and I felt like it fit.
AR: Who is your role model?
CK: My father because he’s a hardworking, honest and respectable man.
AR: Do you have any pre-game rituals?
CK: The only main thing that I definitely have to do before every game is listen to music.
AR: If you could swap places with a teammate, who would it be?
CK: I would change with Carlos (Canas) just to get a whole new perspective of the game from back there.
AR: Favorite movie?
CK: Anchorman
AR: Favorite food?
CK: Steak and mashed potatoes
AR: Favorite band?
CK: I don’t have a favorite band, but I listen to a lot of 90s music.
