The players on the St. Mary’s boys soccer team know what it’s like to play in big games every time they step on the field. With a knowledgeable coach in Mike D’Agostino and a competitive conference like the Catholic Central League, the Spartans who aspire to move on to play in college are more than prepared to do so. At Colby-Sawyer College, St. Mary’s alum Noah Camelo is a prime example.
Camelo, from Marblehead, was a three-year starter for D’Agostino and the Spartans. A midfielder/striker, Camelo was a three-time CCL All-Star in his days wearing the St. Mary’s uniform.
“I decided to go to St. Mary’s because I wanted to play soccer,” Camelo said. “I liked the idea of attending a private school and playing with players from different areas. It was a great group of guys. There was a mature presence on our team and the underclassmen kept that going. When I was older, we knew the underclassmen were going to be a good team.”
After an impressive career at St. Mary’s, Camelo sought the opportunity to continue his soccer career in college. He decided to attend Colby-Sawyer, finding a similar environment at the New Hampshire school to that at St. Mary’s.
“It’s great to still be able to play,” Camelo said. “A lot of players don’t have the opportunity to play after high school. I’m glad I was able to check that box in college. The best thing about playing right now is just having the opportunity to play.”
Now in his third season as a starter at Division III Colby-Sawyer, Camelo’s off to a great start to his junior year. The St. Mary’s product has scored four goals and dished one assist in 957 minutes of action for the Chargers.
More impressively, Camelo has started all 13 games from a new position at center midfielder.
“I wasn’t really sure where I was going to play this season,” Camelo, a business major with concentration in finance and accounting, said. “I transitioned to playing center-mid towards the end of last season due to an injury to another player. Personally, I just wanted to contribute to the team rather than worrying about my personal stats. I’m playing 90 minutes of center-mid each game and that’s where we’re at.”
Colby-Sawyer stands at 8-5 on the year, with three games remaining on the regular season schedule. The Chargers are currently riding a four-game win streak, and carry a 5-1 record against North Atlantic Conference opponents.
“We have a very strong senior class this season,” Camelo said. “We have five seniors in our starting lineup so there’s a lot of seniority this season. The younger guys coming off the bench have done a great job picking up and scoring goals to help us win games.”
The Chargers are certainly in a good position to make a late push and end the regular season on a high note. All three of their remaining contests are home games and two of them are against NAC opponents.
“Coming to our field is very difficult,” Camelo said. “We have a very well-kept grass facility that most teams aren’t used to. We practice on it 65 percent of the time so we know every inch of it and we use it well. It’s really tough to come in here and beat us. If we keep our ranking, we’ll get home field advantage in the playoffs and it’s going to be difficult for teams to come in here and beat us.
“Last season and this season, we’ve faced some really tough competition,” Camelo added. “We’ve played two top-25 teams in UMass Boston and Middlebury. We rolled into the conference with five wins in a row. We’re looking forward to closing the season out with some wins and using that momentum in the playoffs.”
In order to keep their win streak alive to close out the regular season, the Chargers will have listen to the advice of their second-year head coach, Charles Metz, and focus on playing their brand of soccer. Camelo acknowledged that Colby-Sawyer will have to avoid playing down to its opponents and concentrate on sticking to its game plan.
“The biggest thing that Coach Metz has preached to us is keeping up our focus and our intensity,” Camelo said. “We have to avoid playing down to our opponents. We have to work on putting away games rather than letting things worsen after a bad bounce. We have to play the soccer we know we can play.”
Although Camelo’s 100 miles away from St. Mary’s, he still keeps up with the Spartans as he continues his soccer career in New Hampshire. The Spartans are undefeated, 14-0, this season and carry a handful of talented players who are capable of following Camelo’s footsteps and playing college soccer.
“St. Mary’s has a great program,” Camelo said. “They have coaches that really know how to coach. The guys who want to continue playing in college have been supplied with the tools to do so. The players that are there now have every opportunity to play at the next level.”
Colby-Sawyer aims to make it a five-game win streak on Saturday afternoon when it hosts NAC foe Thomas College.