Abington’s Sam Matthews was honored at a special signing ceremony on Wednesday, March 31. The senior goalie has accepted a soccer scholarship to Temple University.
Sam Matthews – Temple University (Soccer)
Major: Communications
Final list of colleges: Temple, Notre Dame, Lock Haven
Reasons for choosing Temple: “Coach (David) MacWilliams is a great coach. He’s very well connected at the next level. I want to play soccer as long as I can, and he’s one of the best coaches to do that. Temple is close to home. We play our home games at Ambler, which is 10 minutes from my house. My pop-pop has come to every game I’ve ever had – whether I played basketball, basketball, soccer or football, he was always at my game.
“Also, Temple has a great communications program, and that was important.”
As someone who was a three-sport standout, what made soccer your number one choice? “Every season I always played a sport. In fall, I played football, in winter I played basketball, and in spring, I played baseball. Honestly, I never would have figured soccer would have been my best sport, but in my sophomore year, I switched over to soccer, and I ended up starting and playing really well. From there, people started telling me I could be a really good soccer goalie and I could go to college and get my college education.
“From there, I started focusing on soccer. I got on a good club team (FC Delco), and it just went from there. It’s very exciting. How many kids try out for the high school team and don’t make it? Others go to college and don’t make their Division II or Division III teams. To play Division One soccer is an honor, and I’m glad to do it.”
Coach Randy Garber said: “We’re going to miss him – four years starting in goal. His will be big shoes to fill. He’s a leader, and we’ll miss his personality on and off the field. Not only is he a great player, but he’s a great individual.
“Athletically, he’s very sound. He could have been a wide receiver in football and done extremely well. He played basketball until he devoted his time to soccer. He was a first baseman in baseball. Sam is just a phenomenal athlete.
“He started the game late in life as far as a goalkeeper goes, but athletically he’s so sound that he picked it up and was very good at it. He’s not afraid, he’s got great hands, and he makes good decisions when he’s in goal. We’re hoping for some big things from Sam. If he does well in college, who knows – we might see him in the MLS some years down the line because of his size and his athletic ability.
“Going to Temple, we’ll get to see him play, hopefully. He’s in great hands with Dave MacWilliams.”
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