Kankakee Times

Shannon Seymour's first college goal was more than just a point for his team to him.

Seymour, a Bourbonnais native and sophomore midfielder for the Northwestern men's soccer team, put the ball in the net during the first half against a powerhouse Notre Dame squad on Oct. 18 in Evanston. The Wildcats eventually won 2-1 in overtime, but Seymour told the Kankakee Times about how the goal also gave him a lot more confidence.

Shannon Seymour

“It being my first goal against the No. 2-ranked team at the time, it was just no better feeling,” he said. ”It just really added to my confidence and just, I mean, kind of gave me trust in myself, like when big plays need to be made that I can be the guy to make them.”

Seymour said his first steps into Big Ten Conference soccer from playing for the likes of the Chicago Fire Academy and at the youth national level have been a huge transition in terms of physicality and speed, as well as perception in representing Northwestern.

“You're competing for something bigger, an organization bigger than yourself,” Seymour said.

And representing a Big Ten school brings a player up against big competition.

“No matter who you're playing – Penn State, Rutgers or Maryland – it'll always be a battle to the very end, a lot of overtime games, a lot of great matches,” he said.

Injuries to his knee and hip set Seymour back a bit as well. Adjusting to everything – especially the end-to-end style and older, more athletic opponents than he ran into during his Academy play – required staying mentally sharp and finding new ways to get advantages, he said.

“Playing smarter as opposed to always playing harder,” Seymour said.

He also recalled something a soccer coach back home told him.

Seymour said he was playing one day in his youth when he was spotted by Vincent Mkhwanazi, a former soccer player at Olivet Nazarene University. Mkhwanazi started mentoring Seymour, including telling him “back to basics.”

“Definitely when you start seeing the speed of play increase, or maybe you have to start thinking a little more rather than being frantic and panicking, you just take it back to the basics,” Seymour said.

That means focusing on things like first touch and awareness on the field, Seymour said.

For the future, Seymour said he would like to “get to know the game better” and obtain a leadership role on the team and help the program move forward during its reconstruction. The Wildcats went 7-9-2 last season – after putting together four straight winning seasons prior to that. The team has instituted a new system this season, he said.

“We're rebuilding from basics,” Seymour said.