Froehle makes Manhattan debut, settles into life in Big Apple
Lorenzo Froehle
“It was definitely hard in the beginning. I definitely struggled at first because I was homesick, but now I’m loving it here,” he told The Riverdale Press.
“I don’t call home much because I heard it makes it much harder to adjust to the New York life when you do that, so I just shoot my family a text every once in a while. I try to stay a little distant right now. But I just love that you are never going to be bored here. If you’re bored, then it’s your fault, you know?”
But he’s not in New York City to sightsee – he’s there to play soccer.
The freshman midfielder made his debut for Manhattan tonight in a 3-0 loss to Temple in NCAA D1 action in Philadelphia. He entered the match in the 57th minute.
Froehle, of Bartlett High fame, also saw playing time in exhibition games during the preseason. Right away, he realized he wasn’t in the Cook Inlet Conference anymore.
“Alaska soccer right now is at Level 1 and Division I soccer is Level 5 so I’m trying to get to Level 5,” he said. “But it’s one step at a time.”
His coach, Jorden Scott, is enjoying the determination of his new player.
“He went on for 15 minutes and you could see his head was spinning,” Scott told the newspaper. “So I pulled him out, gave him a quick water and said, ‘It’s fun isn’t it?’ Then he looked at me and said, ‘Wow, that’s quick.’ Then I put him back on, and that’s what it’s going to take. But he has a desire to be better and that’s all I ask.”
Scott took a chance on signing Froehle when few NCAA D1 teams would.