“Organize!”

 His voice echoes throughout Bayside Field. He stands alone in front of the net, directing his team ahead of him.

Junior Edmund Geschickter has been the men’s soccer go-to goalkeeper for the past two years and has started all but one of the team’s first six games this season. His team is experiencing unprecedented success so far, but he has been consistent since his first start freshman year, finishing near the top in the Commonwealth Coast Conference goalkeeping statistical categories.

“I was pretty confident coming in [to my freshman year]…I always felt good about my shot stopping ability,” Geschickter said.

Geschickter’s earliest memories of him playing soccer are in his backyard kicking the ball around with his older brother and some of his friends. He began playing organized soccer in the third grade and found love for the position of goalkeeper in seventh. 

“I just liked the position. I liked hitting the ground, diving high in the air and stuff like that,” he said. “I have two favorite parts. One is that I just get to basically yell all game… and the other is making a save where I really have to sell out and dive to the far corner of the goal. It’s really fun to fly through the air and have your body be four, five feet off the ground.”

While growing up, Geschickter played multiple sports in addition to soccer, like hockey, baseball and basketball, but stuck with basketball and soccer in high school. Throughout his four years at Brookline (Mass.) High School, he was successful in both sports, but felt he was better at keeping the ball out of net rather than shooting it in. 

In 2015, James Greenslit was named head coach of the men’s soccer program at RWU. It was also the same year he was Geschickter’s club team head coach. Geschickter was a junior in high school, which is typically when high school students begin to look at potential colleges, and Greenslit wanted him to play for him in two years. 

“He recruited me pretty hard at the end of our club season. He showed me the campus over the summer and a couple times in the fall…I didn’t place that much weight on my college decision. I felt wherever I went, I would try to do my best,” Geschickter said.

“Edmund has been a fantastic leader for our team both as a leader by example and as a verbal motivator both on and off the field.  He has an extremely positive presence and confidence that is infectious throughout our team,” Coach Greenslit said.

Geschickter got the nod for the opening game of his freshman year, which resulted in a 2-0 loss to University of Massachusetts-Boston. He had a solid rookie season, despite what the record showed. In 16 games played, he let in 21 goals, but stopped 79, giving him a .790 save percentage. He also recorded three shutouts and was named to the All-CCC Third Team.

He posted similar numbers in 2017 and finished third in the conference in saves with 71 and fifth in save percentage with .789. He received another All-CCC Third Team recognition. 

As of Sept. 16, the Hawks are on a roll to start the season. They are 6-0 overall and 1-0 in conference play after defeating Nichols College in double overtime. Geschickter has been solid in net, only allowing two goals. He is leading the conference in save percentage, goals against and goals-against average. 

“He portrays all around intelligence. On and off the field, he is very organized and informed. He is confident in his ability as a goalkeeper, which is crucial for any team…Although he is not labeled a captain, he is definitely one of our biggest, loudest and most influential leaders on our team,” said senior captain David Majetich.