Boston College Athletics
BC's International Man Of Soccer
January 21, 2017 | Men's Soccer, #ForBoston Files
The New York Red Bulls made Zeiko Lewis the 17th overall pick in the MLS SuperDraft.
Once a niche sport throughout the United States, soccer's tangible growth is one of the biggest athletic explosions of the past 20 years. Linked to the growth and relative success of Major League Soccer, a once-minor American game is gaining ground to blend globally with the most popular worldwide sport.
The college soccer game resides within that renaissance. At Boston College, the internationalization of the roster brought with it high-caliber athletes who made an impact on the Atlantic Coast Conference landscape. This past month, one of those athletes - Bermudan midfielder Zeiko Lewis - made that presence felt at the highest level when he was picked 17th overall by the New York Red Bulls in the MLS SuperDraft.
"It's great for Zeiko to be picked as a first round draft pick," Eagles head coach Ed Kelly said. "He is going to play for a great franchise, and (playing for New York) will suit him well. The Red Bulls allow for development in their system, and they're a great organization. It would be harder to go to a more unestablished franchise, so this will be a great fit."
Lewis departs Boston College with a litany of career highlights. This past season, he scored seven goals and five assists for 19 points, both of which led the team. Of those goals, three were game-winners, also best on the team, and he holds the distinction of scoring the Eagles' last four goals of the season.
In the first round of the ACC Tournament, Lewis scored twice as the Eagles rallied against Virginia Tech. After the Hokies scored in the 84th minute, Zeiko grounded a cross pass from Simon Enstrom one minute later to tie the game at two. The even score sent the match eventually to penalty kicks, where the Eagles defeated the Hokies, 4-3.
He kept the rally rolling two days later in North Carolina, where BC defeated UNC in Chapel Hill, 1-0, thanks to a goal by Lewis in the 57th minute. A loss to Clemson ended conference championship dreams, but it was good enough to send the Eagles back to the NCAA Tournament, where they drew Fordham in the first round at home on Newton Campus.
A scoreless game through 81-plus minutes, Lewis buried a baseline pass from Enstrom again, lifting the Eagles past the Rams, 1-0. Though they would lose in the second round to Albany, 3-0, Lewis had cemented a legacy that elevated him to the professional ranks. Signing with MLS, the Red Bulls offer his next opportunity to take another step.
"His pace is high quality," Kelly said. "He is very good dribbling the ball. He will be a wide player at the next level, and he brings great creativity and a good soccer brain. He improved in his production (at BC) and he raised his game as he just became more mature. That led to his output. He did very well at the MLS Combine and with his group."
In Lewis, the Red Bulls receive a player who has experience in the game both in America and at the international level. He joined the Bermuda senior national team in 2011, earning nine caps in the years since. In March 2015, he notched his first career international goal as part of the country's 5-0 victory over the Bahamas in 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification. Though his team was eliminated by Guatemala in the second round, it's solid experience that he returned to Chestnut Hill.
"A lot of college kids play on the Bermudan team, but to play in that World Cup environment is to have games where you have to perform. It's a good experience to come back and help Zeiko mature because it taught him that you have to perform all the time," Kelly said.
Lewis now becomes the latest Eagle to join players like Kyle Bekker and Alejandro Bedoya at the MLS level. He'll also be joining a Red Bulls squad coming off of a wildly successful 2016 season. With 57 points and 16 wins, they finished first in the Eastern Conference, advancing to the MLS Cup Semifinals and the fifth round of the US Open Cup. He'll also join one of MLS's flagship franchises, an original team that has played every season of the growing league.
He also represents the shift in the college paradigm, which is now a part of a growing and emerging American soccer market where the international community is blending. One of 12 international players on the BC roster, it's an aspect that sits well with the Irish-born head coach, even as he loses one of his stars.
"Twenty years ago, you couldn't find the game on TV and now kids are growing up watching it at a grassroots level," Kelly said. "Now there's academies and the popularity is growing. Red Bull is a massive club with franchises all over the world.
"It's the same with college," he continued. "International players like Zeiko reach out, and the reputation has grown now that the MLS SuperDraft is a possibility. It's so difficult elsewhere - in England or in Germany, for example - that this is really an opportunity. Every system has needs, so we try to recruit a position or get some style of play with different things happening in the process. But we get to see how well players will perform, and it's a good time for new players to step up. We have a young player that we're looking at, and we may change our system or we may keep it the same. The talent levels and how players perform will allow us to experiment (moving forward)."
The college soccer game resides within that renaissance. At Boston College, the internationalization of the roster brought with it high-caliber athletes who made an impact on the Atlantic Coast Conference landscape. This past month, one of those athletes - Bermudan midfielder Zeiko Lewis - made that presence felt at the highest level when he was picked 17th overall by the New York Red Bulls in the MLS SuperDraft.
"It's great for Zeiko to be picked as a first round draft pick," Eagles head coach Ed Kelly said. "He is going to play for a great franchise, and (playing for New York) will suit him well. The Red Bulls allow for development in their system, and they're a great organization. It would be harder to go to a more unestablished franchise, so this will be a great fit."
Lewis departs Boston College with a litany of career highlights. This past season, he scored seven goals and five assists for 19 points, both of which led the team. Of those goals, three were game-winners, also best on the team, and he holds the distinction of scoring the Eagles' last four goals of the season.
In the first round of the ACC Tournament, Lewis scored twice as the Eagles rallied against Virginia Tech. After the Hokies scored in the 84th minute, Zeiko grounded a cross pass from Simon Enstrom one minute later to tie the game at two. The even score sent the match eventually to penalty kicks, where the Eagles defeated the Hokies, 4-3.
He kept the rally rolling two days later in North Carolina, where BC defeated UNC in Chapel Hill, 1-0, thanks to a goal by Lewis in the 57th minute. A loss to Clemson ended conference championship dreams, but it was good enough to send the Eagles back to the NCAA Tournament, where they drew Fordham in the first round at home on Newton Campus.
A scoreless game through 81-plus minutes, Lewis buried a baseline pass from Enstrom again, lifting the Eagles past the Rams, 1-0. Though they would lose in the second round to Albany, 3-0, Lewis had cemented a legacy that elevated him to the professional ranks. Signing with MLS, the Red Bulls offer his next opportunity to take another step.
"His pace is high quality," Kelly said. "He is very good dribbling the ball. He will be a wide player at the next level, and he brings great creativity and a good soccer brain. He improved in his production (at BC) and he raised his game as he just became more mature. That led to his output. He did very well at the MLS Combine and with his group."
In Lewis, the Red Bulls receive a player who has experience in the game both in America and at the international level. He joined the Bermuda senior national team in 2011, earning nine caps in the years since. In March 2015, he notched his first career international goal as part of the country's 5-0 victory over the Bahamas in 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification. Though his team was eliminated by Guatemala in the second round, it's solid experience that he returned to Chestnut Hill.
"A lot of college kids play on the Bermudan team, but to play in that World Cup environment is to have games where you have to perform. It's a good experience to come back and help Zeiko mature because it taught him that you have to perform all the time," Kelly said.
Lewis now becomes the latest Eagle to join players like Kyle Bekker and Alejandro Bedoya at the MLS level. He'll also be joining a Red Bulls squad coming off of a wildly successful 2016 season. With 57 points and 16 wins, they finished first in the Eastern Conference, advancing to the MLS Cup Semifinals and the fifth round of the US Open Cup. He'll also join one of MLS's flagship franchises, an original team that has played every season of the growing league.
He also represents the shift in the college paradigm, which is now a part of a growing and emerging American soccer market where the international community is blending. One of 12 international players on the BC roster, it's an aspect that sits well with the Irish-born head coach, even as he loses one of his stars.
"Twenty years ago, you couldn't find the game on TV and now kids are growing up watching it at a grassroots level," Kelly said. "Now there's academies and the popularity is growing. Red Bull is a massive club with franchises all over the world.
"It's the same with college," he continued. "International players like Zeiko reach out, and the reputation has grown now that the MLS SuperDraft is a possibility. It's so difficult elsewhere - in England or in Germany, for example - that this is really an opportunity. Every system has needs, so we try to recruit a position or get some style of play with different things happening in the process. But we get to see how well players will perform, and it's a good time for new players to step up. We have a young player that we're looking at, and we may change our system or we may keep it the same. The talent levels and how players perform will allow us to experiment (moving forward)."
Players Mentioned
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