Connor Blake '26 Recruiting Profile

Hi, my name is Connor Blake and I'm currently a senior at MRMHS. I have played soccer since I was 5 and when I was 8 years old, I determined my favorite position was a goalkeeper. At 11 years old the referee of the games, who had played in college and semi-pros, told my parents that I had great skills in net for my age. That was a turning point for me. My love of soccer for simply having fun became more competitive. I want to learn, grow and carry that competitive drive through high school and hopefully have the opportunity in college as well.

For 2 years I played on the Middle School soccer team and my 8th grade year I was the starting goalie for the Monadnock Huskies. I received the Coach’s Award for my team.

In the summer of 2022, I attended an ID Camp that the High School Varsity coach told me about at Keene State College. My P.E. teacher, Matt Caron started ECSA (Elm City Soccer Academy) that hosted the camp. He is the Director of Goalkeeping at KSC and I worked with him to better my skills. I not only learned a lot during my time at the camp, but had fun too. I also did goalkeeper training with Matt Caron for six weeks in the fall of 2022.

My freshman year I was on the Varsity team and was a starting goalkeeper for at least 6 games at the end of the 2022 season. Initially the Upperclassmen had reservations about having a freshman in net. I knew if I was given the opportunity to start at least one game I could prove to them that I had what it takes to be their goalkeeper. Although we couldn't pull out a win as a team it wasn't for a lack of trying. I had a lot of action in net and made numerous saves. The Upperclassmen made it known that they wanted me to start and even after suffering a sprained thumb I would be asked daily when I would be able to play again. It felt good knowing I had the support of the team and that my hard work had paid off. During the offseason our Varsity team played indoor futsal. I was the starting goalkeeper for all of the games. It was our hope that all of the extra time spent playing together we would have a better season next year and pull off some wins.

After my freshman soccer season ended that fall I played on Seacoast United's U16 club team as their starting goalkeeper. January through June I had weekly Goalkeeper training with Seacoast United in addition to the training with my team.

Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to continue playing club soccer after that year because for 2 ½ years following my time on the club team I was experiencing some health issues and exercise exacerbated my symptoms. I played my sophomore and junior years as the starting keeper, but it wasn’t easy as I struggled through the symptoms. My symptoms were getting so bad my junior year that I told coach it was best that I sat out the remaining games of the season. My reaction time and speed were affected. I felt like I was letting my team down. It also affected how I learned and retained information in the classroom. I had major surgery at the end of last year that wasn’t a guarantee, but a hope after all other treatments had failed. After I returned to school, I was behind on all of my work and had to put in extra time after school and outside of school to get back on track. A few months after surgery all of my symptoms had disappeared. It was such a relief to feel normal again and now I’m back to playing how I did over two years prior! Currently I am the starting goalkeeper for my high school varsity team for the 2025 season. I suffered another setback before the first game of the season when I broke my thumb. It was hard to accept knowing I struggled for so long to get back to where I used to be to, now to sit out my Senior year and possibly not have the opportunity to play. I’ve been helping to coach the back-up goal keepers for our team while my thumb heals. It is my hope that I can get the chance to play at least one game this season.

No matter what I’m doing, whether practicing and/or playing a game, I always give it 110%. I have learned through playing that I have leadership qualities. My teammates look up to me with respect and want my input to help guide them as I voice directives from the net. My hard work isn’t only on the field; it’s also in the classroom. I have been maintaining grades to keep me on the honor or high honor roll throughout middle school, freshman, sophomore and my junior year. My strengths are in STEM so I’m leaning towards something in that career field