Ryan Masch, a senior on the Santa Clara men's soccer team has endured a challenging and injury-riddled collegiate career. But, he has persevered and is now a leader on a squad that has a 4-3 record almost halfway through his senior season.
Masch, a native of San Jose, California, has had a relationship with Santa Clara that dates back to his youth. His aunt was an athletic trainer for Santa Clara and worked with the men's soccer team during Masch's childhood. His older brother, Eric, also played for head coach Cameron Rast and was an all-conference player that graduated in 2012.
"I had grown up around the team before my brother even went here or I had any contact with college coaches," Masch said. "It's also the local school so it was always in the back of my mind."
The connections to Santa Clara continued for Masch. He played for the De Anza Force, a youth soccer club that is run by volunteer assistant coach and former NCAA Champion with the Broncos, Jeff Baicher. He wasted little time making the choice about where he wanted to attend college.
"Coming up through the Force program and having Baicher as a coach and then working with [associate head coach] (Eric Yamamoto) Yamo later on in high school, it made a lot of sense. I actually verbally committed after my freshman year of high school. It was an easy decision, to say the least."
Masch went to high school at Bellarmine College Prep, just a short drive away from Santa Clara's campus. He was ranked as a four-star prospect by TopDrawerSoccer.com and also spent a year, (the year covered a portion of his sophomore and junior years) in Bradenton, Florida, with the U.S. U-17 National Team in the residency program.
"We trained and just focused on soccer more than anything else," Masch said. "I was able to play in some international matches and travel a bit which was very cool. It was a great experience. The academic transition was easy, too. I didn't miss a beat, so it was great."
Unfortunately, the bad luck with injuries began for Masch during his senior year of high school. He injured his knee, which required surgery and had him on the proverbial shelf for four months. However, he was able to recover in time to play for the Broncos in the fall of his freshman year.
"Ryan is a very gifted player," head coach Cameron Rast said. "Even in his freshman year he was able to step on the field and impact our team in a way that very few freshmen can. He was able to score goals, play at the level of speed and technique that you need to be effective. It usually takes many players more than a year to adjust to this level."
Masch recovered well and played in all 19 games for the Broncos in 2012. He was an All-WCC Honorable Mention honoree and a member of the WCC All-Freshman Team. He scored five goals, three of which were game-winners, and helped the team to an 11-6-2 overall record.
"After my freshman year, I was very hopeful that I would have a big next one or two years," Masch said. "I was hopeful for some sort of professional opportunity and to potentially leave school early."
Masch missed the 2013 season due to an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury and was forced to redshirt. He returned to action for the Broncos in 2014, scoring two goals and dishing out an assist in seven games.
In the last game of the spring season in 2015, Masch was tackled and ended up tearing his lateral collateral ligament, causing him to undergo surgery and miss the entire 2015 season.
"The challenge for Ryan came when he started taking injuries and missing seasons," Rast said. "He lost some development time and I think he started to question if he could stay healthy."
Masch successfully completed the 2015 winter workouts and the 2016 spring season with the Broncos. Over the summer he went to play in Des Moines, Iowa, for the Des Moines Menace, a Premier Development League (PDL). The mission of the PDL is to preserve the student-athlete's amateur status while providing as much as they can to benefit the players in developing them during the offseason.
As a fifth-year senior, Masch has been a leader and played a vital role for the Broncos. The team is off to a strong start and Masch has played well but he is still trying to regain his form and complete comfort on the field.
"I think I'm still getting in the swing of things," Masch said. "Through spring and over summer, then these few games, are the only matches I've played for the last nine months. I'm still building on my game and just trying to let things click into place."
Rast is trying to bring Masch along slowly in the hopes that as the season goes on, Masch gains more momentum and helps carry the team into a deep tournament run.
"So far this year, he's played for us and impacted our team quite a bit," Rast said. "I still think we're integrating him in a manner that will continue to build his impact on our team. When it comes down to it, I think he will be somebody that defines a lot of what happens to us this season."
The idea of remaining patient has been a challenge for Masch but neither he nor the coaching staff has rushed him in any way.
"It's frustrating, especially knowing where I have been in my game," Masch said. "Just trusting the process of allowing myself, my body, my touch, my mentality, to grow back into that same shape as before."
At the same time, Masch holds himself to high standards and he expects to reach them.
"The coaches expect a lot out of me but that should be the case," Masch said. "I like that because I hold myself to the standard that I know I can be at. Their encouragement and reinforcement of doing things right and paying attention to the details is only beneficial for me in the long run to get back to that place."
Masch has been knocked down many times during his career but continues to stand up and push forward. Although things have not gone how he envisioned them, his aspirations have not waivered and in his eyes, the choice he made as a freshman in high school is still the correct one.
"I want to play at the next level, that's been my goal and my dream," Masch said. "The reason that I'm playing here is because I want to move on to the professional level and I feel like our staff is capable of getting me there. Injuries definitely have a taken a toll and have affected me getting there but it's not stopping me. It's just a roadblock I have to get by."
