By Alexandra Licata -- STAFF WRITER
New Zealand native Oscar Ramsay had a goal to play in the U.S. and attend college starting at the age of 15. Now a sophomore, the Hofstra men’s soccer midfielder has entered his second year with the Pride hoping to prove he can do more to help the team and so far, he has done just that.
Ramsay scored his first career goal on Oct. 7 against the University of Delaware, which propelled the struggling Pride to a 1-0 win, the team’s first Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) win of the season. Prior to that, the team was 0-0-4 in conference play.
“My parents had come over from New Zealand so it was good to score in front of them. I know Dad was buzzing with it,” Ramsay said.
“It was one of those ones where I just walked into the box and hoped that it would roll to me and it did. The boys said I shut my eyes and just swung at it, but I was very glad that it flew in.”
That moment, for both Ramsay and his parents, marked a highlight moment of his career thus far.
“I said that I’d been saving up a goal for [my parents],” Ramsay said. “Especially since my dad was joking that if I didn’t score soon he would have to take me home.”
The confidence Ramsay gained during that game stayed with him. He went on to score two more goals against Drexel University, which helped the Pride to a 3-1 CAA win.
“You trust where you should be and stop overthinking it,” Ramsay said. “So I was making runs that I probably would’ve normally made, but I hadn’t had my confidence up … You’re just calm and you can stroke it into the back of the net without being too flustered about it.”
When Ramsay was five-years-old, he began playing at a local New Zealand soccer club called Western Springs.
When he reached the age of 13, he moved on to play for a variety of clubs. He played for Central United and captained the team to an Auckland Metro League championship, captained his Westlake Boys High School’s team during his senior year, was a member of the New Zealand U20 World Cup Qualifying extended squad and also attended the All Whites Training Camp in 2016.
Due to a lack of an official pathway in New Zealand for soccer, Ramsay’s two options were to either play domestically or come to America and play in college.
He ultimately chose to pursue a college degree and join Hofstra’s team in hopes of achieving something bigger.
“You do well in college and there’s always others, like the USL [United Soccer League] and the MLS, there in the background to entice you,” Ramsay said. “But then at the end of the day, if you don’t end up going down that route where you’re not good enough or you don’t end up loving the game anymore, then you’ve still got a college degree to fall back on.”
The transition from New Zealand to college soccer during Ramsay’s freshman year was not easy.
Having come from an environment where he had more time on the ball, able to pick passes and move with it, he has had to adapt to the quick pace of the collegiate level.
As a result, he is trying to move the ball as quick as he can, which has helped him to play stronger this year.
“College soccer gets a rep for being more athletic with more powerful players. The season’s so short that every game is like a cut final, so everything’s always on the line,” Ramsay said.
“Whereas back home, and I know some of the English boys had the same, you had 30 or 40 game seasons. So you can have, not a game off, but maybe try a different formation and if it doesn’t work then it’s not going to have a massive impact on the season,” Ramsay said. “But here, if you take six games to get into the season, by then you could be struggling.”
Although he currently leads the team in goals scored, Ramsay still has things he wants to improve on this season that go beyond feeling more comfortable in the realm of collegiate soccer.
Originally, Ramsay set a goal to start every game, but due to a few injuries, he was unable to do so.
With three goals under his belt, he wants to contribute more as the Pride finishes out their season and looks ahead to potentially playing in a sixth consecutive CAA Tournament.
“I think for me going forward, I want to stay fit for longer and that’s going to be important for me in the offseason – trying to get stronger and faster and be able to play for longer,” Ramsay said.
“I would love to get a few more assists. Especially if I’m playing in that number 10 position, you want to be creating and assisting.”