The transition from high school to college athletics can be difficult for even the most talented athletes.
At the college level, Jake Tietgens has struggled to find the scoring touch that made him a standout on the soccer field at Drury High School. The 2012 graduate is in his first year at Castleton State College in Vermont and hasn’t found the back of the net in the team’s first eight games.
"I’m starting to adjust better. I wasn’t really ready for it at first, to be honest," Tietgens said in a phone interview. "It’s probably the speed of the game. It’s quick and it’s physical. A lot more physical.
"I was hoping to get a good amount of playing time and score a lot of goals. But, I haven’t been able to score yet this year."
He’s hoping that will change today when he returns to Berkshire County to face MCLA at 4 p.m. The Stamford, Vt. native is no stranger to Berkshire County success. He led the league in his senior year of high school with 19 goals.
"He’s a phenomenal soccer player, soccer is definitely in his blood," Drury coach Greg Caproni said. "He is a striker, but early on in his high school career we had some team needs that required him to play back and play more defense.
"Last year, we had the personnel to finally let him play where he belongs, and he did really well."
Caproni believes that ability to adapt and do what is necessary
Minimal playing time can’t be contributed to the lack of goal scoring, however.
"I’m getting pretty good minutes for a freshman," Tietgens said.
In eight games, he has taken nine shots and five of those have required the goalkeeper to make a save. He has been on the field for all of his team’s eight games and recorded one start earlier in the season.
"I have to keep my confidence level up, that’s been the downer," he said. "I just have to keep telling myself I have done this before and I can do this. It’s just soccer, I’ve played [for] forever."
Caproni says he and Tietgens are in contact quite often and he knows it’s just a matter of time before an offensive explosion occurs. After all, it’s the same player he watched score a hat trick in three consecutive games last year.
"He’s going to take whatever minutes he gets as a freshman and he’s going to keep progressing," Caproni said. "He’ll keep working really hard to improve, he loves to play."
Almost half way through his first season at Castleton, he’s sure he made the right choice.
"It’s a lot of fun, I love playing here," Tietgens said. "It’s such a nice new field, a big stadium and my teammates are awesome. They are all really talented players who love the game."
Tietgens will be playing in front of several familiar faces today when he gets on the field.
Two of his former coaches as well as several of his former teammates will be on hand at MCLA. Caproni will be there with the entire Blue Devil team cheering on Tietgens. Scott Botto, who coached the former Blue Devil for two years at Drury, will also be on hand, but trying to beat him. Botto is now an assistant coach at MCLA.
"We try to go see as many college games as possible," Caproni said. "It’s great for the kids to see the upper level of soccer and have them try to bring back some of that to their game and what we are trying to do. It’s especially great when it’s watching someone that they played with."
"We try to go see as many college games as possible," Caproni said. "It’s great for the kids to see the upper level of soccer and have them try to bring back some of that to their game and what we are trying to do. It’s especially great when it’s watching someone that they played with."
To reach Sam Monroe, email
smonroe@thetranscript.com.
On Twitter: NAT_DigitalSam
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