The UCSD men’s soccer team bids farewell to five seniors who have helped lead the team to its best Division II season, including a berth in the NCAA Division II National Championships, five California Collegiate Athletic Association conference honors and two NCAA All-American honors. Defender and co-captain Jonathan Shum, goalkeeper Jeremy Cookson, midfielder and co-captain Ryan Blair and midfielders Alexis Tello and Ryan Mizumoto will graduate UCSD in June.
Shum has anchored the Triton defense for four years and has started in all 18 games he played this past season. His strong defensive play earned him an NCAA First Team All-American honor, a First Team All-CCAA selection and First Team All-Far West Region recognition for the 2003 season. In the 2003 season, he was an integral part of the Triton defense that allowed more than two goals in only three games and held the opposing team to a 1.6 goals-per-game average.
“Jon has been everything to us, and his All-American selection was very justified,” UCSD head coach Derek Armstrong said.
Shum cites making the NCAA playoffs for the first time as his proudest accomplishment.
“During our four years, I feel that [we] seniors have laid a strong foundation for future teams, starting as Division II newcomers as freshmen and now as seniors. Hopefully [the team will remain] consistent contenders for the NCAA tournament,” Shum said.
Shum will remain at UCSD for one extra year to earn his master’s degree in microbiology as part of the Bachelor of Science/Master of Science program. He hopes to go to China to teach English and to eventually make his career as a high school teacher.
“I loved playing night games on our field,” Shum said. “There was always an electric atmosphere for those games. More than that though, I will definitely miss the times with my teammates both on and off the field.”
Fellow graduating senior Jeremy Cookson, also talked about Shum’s contribution to the team over the years.
“The biggest loss will be Shummie,” he said. “He was a real leader on the field and his play helped hold the defense together.”
Cookson carved himself a successful career as the Tritons’ top goalie. As a freshman, he started all 18 games and tallied 70 saves and a 1.14 goals-against average. He missed most of his sophomore season with an injury but came back and played solidly in his junior and senior years. Cookson has played a total of 59 games with a 1.42 career GAA.
“I have two proud accomplishments,” Cookson said. “First and foremost was getting to the NCAA tournament my senior year. A very close second is not losing to Cal State Dominguez Hills at all my senior year. After getting destroyed by them for three years straight, it was great to end on the right note.”
Cookson will receive his degree in electrical engineering and will begin working for the United States Air Force doing systems testing on fighter aircraft at Edwards Air Force Base.
“Jeremy has shown exemplary character, and it’s been a privilege to coach him,” Armstrong said.
Cookson said he will miss team camaraderie the most when he leaves UCSD.
“We all worked really hard together for a long time and got pretty close,” Cookson said. “We fought through a lot together and had a great time doing it. The soccer has been fun, and the level of competition is something I’ll definitely miss. But most of all, I think I’ll just miss the team itself.”
Mizumoto has also helped UCSD’s success during his four-year career as a midfielder. He started 45 of the 64 games he played. Like Cookson, he cites beating Cal State Dominguez Hills and making the NCAA playoffs as his most important achievements. Mizumoto graduates with a degree in biology and plans on taking a year off before attending dental school.
“I’m definitely going to miss my mates the most,” Mizumoto said. “We have been through a lot together and I wish them all the best of luck in the future.”
Mizumoto feels optimistic about the team’s future next season and expects the underclassmen to step up.
“The team will definitely be exciting to watch,” he said. “With so many influential seniors leaving, strong leadership will be needed from the younger players.”
Blair, a local player out of University of San Diego High School, graduates with degrees in economics and political science. Blair has played a total of 60 games at UCSD and suffered a season-ending injury that left him out of the conference and NCAA playoffs this year.
“Ryan [Blair] is another very good character on our team,” Armstrong said. “He added laughter and joy.”
Summers, an aerospace engineering major, started all 18 games as a midfielder in his freshman year. The midfielder had his breakout year in 2001, leading his team in scoring with six goals and 13 points. He finished his career playing a total of 66 games with 10 goals and six assists totaling 30 points.
“Sean has been very consistent and had a really good career here,” Armstrong said.
Tello played midfielder for one season at UCSD in 2003. He played 14 games and tallied two goals for the season.
“Alexis has been injured quite a lot, unfortunately, but he was a valuable member of this club,” Armstrong said.
Although the familiar faces of Shum, Cookson, Mizumoto, Blair, Summers and Tello will be missing on the field, the future looks bright for men’s soccer, with many of the conference honors returning next season. Cookson is optimistic that the underclassmen will step up.
“[Even with the loss of Shum], the defense is still in great shape, with Kevin [Murray], Rob [Stetina], Garret [King], Luke [Russell], not to mention some of the sophomores,” Cookson said. “Defensively, they’ll do fine. Offensively, [the team still has [Matthew] Davey, [Jon] Krupansky, [Brett] Maurer and [Grant] Nishio. I would say that the team will miss us seniors, but they’re going to go even further next year.”
Reflective of his strong work ethic as a captain, Shum also added that hard work will be essential to next season’s success.
“There is quite a lot of talent on the team but their talents will only take them so far,” Shum said. “It will be their hard work which will propel them past the team’s achievements last season.”
