[dropcap]With[/dropcap] so much of the scoring punch from Creighton’s 2015 roster moving on to the professional ranks it was easy for many to not notice the overhaul that head coach Elmar Bolowich and his staff needed to make to an experienced group in the defensive third.

Gone from a season ago were senior center backs, and team captains, Vincent Keller and Eric DeJulio, as well as reigning Co-Big East Goalkeeper of the Year in Connor Sparrow. The Bluejay coaching staff replaced Keller and DeJulio with sophomores Mitch LaGro and Peter Prescott, but with the drop off in production from the attacking third the young back line would need a jolt of proven experience to give them a chance to win early on while the revamped offense finds its rhythm.

Enter: Alex Kapp

[dropcap]A[/dropcap] three-year starter in goal for the Boston College Eagles, Kapp decided to spend his lone remaining season of Division 1 eligibility in Omaha, Nebraska. With Boston College transitioning to life without the 6-foot, 190-pound net-minder, and the Bluejays looking to retool their defense, it was a match that made sense for both sides.

“First of all, I was looking at a good relationship with a coach,” Kapp said. “When I came here with Coach Bolowich I knew right off the bat that he was a great guy. I was in contact with the goalkeeper coach, Justin Hughes, and got along really well with him. When looking at schools it was a fit more along the lines of playing time, but also a great relationship with the coaches that would be able to believe in me.”

Kapp visited campus in the spring and pulled the trigger on his decision to attend Creighton a few short weeks later. Like the Bluejays, his former team also made an Elite Eight run in 2015 — just the second time in program history they had done so — and had a preseason top 15 team returning to campus in the fall. But when the Westchester, N.Y. native saw the type of environment Morrison Stadium provided his decision became an easy one.

“I kind of wanted a different kind of soccer,” Kapp said. “I loved it at BC — I wouldn’t say I was looking for a better soccer school, but a better soccer atmosphere. I came here, I saw all the fans, all the atmosphere that has been brought here, how much goes into each game, and seeing an atmosphere like that is something you can only dream of. I’m not saying that BC didn’t have it, but Creighton is a little better in terms of that.”

Getting to campus as early as possible was a priority for Kapp given the work that needed to be done in building chemistry with the back line. Oh, and he also had to win the starting job in the first place.

“All the keepers here are very good — it’s high caliber, so my spot wasn’t guaranteed and it was definitely something I had to work for and prove myself,” Kapp said. “I had full confidence that I would be able to do that.”

“I think that was a big reason why it was really important for me to come in the spring. I wanted to establish that relationship with my back four and show that I have confidence in them.”

The Twists and Turns Along The Way

[dropcap]Alex[/dropcap] Kapp’s road to Omaha didn’t always follow an evenly-paved path. As a true freshman at Boston College, his battle for playing time was cut short when he suffered an osteochondral lesion — a bone fracture — on the outside of his right knee that required surgery. He tried to play through it at first, but with his whole college career still in front of him the coaches at BC pulled up on the reigns and decided to apply for a medical redshirt.

“I was playing every other game, but my knee just wasn’t up to it, so we just called it quits for the year and get a redshirt year out of it,” Kapp recalled. “There was a senior goalkeeper there that had been a starter, so when I talked to my coaches they just said there isn’t a reason to really push it.”

The following season, Kapp started and played in 11 matches while posting a 1.87 goals against average. He lowered that mark to 1.25, including five clean sheets during his sophomore season. Then last fall he had the best season of his collegiate career when he posted a 0.98 goals against average, and led the Eagles to NCAA Tournament wins over Vermont, No. 15 South Florida, and No. 2 Georgetown before falling 1-0 in the Elite Eight against No. 6 Syracuse.

The match against the second-ranked Hoyas was decided on penalty kicks. Not only did Kapp out-duel Big East Freshman of the Year, and fellow goalkeeper, JT Marcinkowski, but he also converted the first attempt during the penalty kicks himself to get his team on the board. The Eagles eventually won the shootout, 5-4, with Kapp stopping eventual third-overall MLS Draft Pick, Keegan Rosenberry, to help his team advance to the Elite Eight for the first time since 2002.

“We had a really good team, a really young team,” Kapp said. “We kind of came together at the right time at the home stretch of the end of the season and going into the NCAA Tournament. We just hit a good stride, had a really close team, and we were just beating teams that we really weren’t supposed to beat. We were kind of that darkhorse team throughout the tournament.”

Though he was officially granted his redshit the year before that Elite Eight season, neither he nor Boston College were sure if the request would be granted. That resulted in the Eagles being forced to prepare for life without their goalkeeper. It also forced Kapp to keep his eyes open for opportunities elsewhere.

One of the reasons he chose Creighton was the relationship he had developed with Justin Hughes, the Bluejays goalkeeper coach at the time. But true to everything else in his college career there came another bump in the road when Hughes left the program to accept a job a non-soccer related job in Omaha.

“Justin was a great coach for me. He’s definitely a big reason why I did come here, so I was a little disappointed to hear that he was leaving, especially for my one year that I came here,” Kapp said. “He’s got to do what he’s got to do, so I supported his decision.”

To replace Hughes, Creighton hired Michael Gabb, a former goalkeeper who led the Bluejays to two College Cup appearances, including a national runner-up finish in 2000.

By all indications, new goalkeeper and position coach have built a solid relationship throughout the summer and fall.

“Gabb has been great,” Kapp said. “Obviously it’s a new relationship so it took a little time to build, but me and him have been able to kick it off right off the bat and really help each other. He’s helping me get better and I’m helping him as a coach as well.”

Alex Kapp has quickly become a leader for the Bluejays. (Photo by Mike Spomer/SWIsportsimages/WBR)

The results on pitch have thus far reflected the senior goalkeeper’s sentiment, too. Through six matches the 12th-ranked Bluejays are 4-1-1 with the only blemish coming on the road against then second-ranked Clemson. In those six contests, Kapp 22 saves while playing every possible second in goal. His 0.48 goals against average is currently ranked 12th in the nation while his .880 save percentage is ranked fifth.

While the stats are impressive on their own, his impact on the team goes beyond what shows up in the box score after a match. Selected by the coaches as one of the team captains, along with senior midfielder Ricardo Perez, the former Boston College standout has been a commanding presence in the box, often coming off his line and aggressive pursuing dangerous set pieces in the air. As a former position player, throwing caution to the wind is something that comes naturally to the Bluejay goalkeeper.

“I’ve played like that all my life,” Kapp said. “Maybe being a field player up until eighth grade kind of gave me that mentality to want to do something out on the field, but really it’s just about being an aggressive goalkeeper.

“I’m just an aggressive type of guy. I’ve always thought that I need to find ways to make myself stick out, and I think that’s a way of just holding a high line, and anything over the top — really we’re supposed to dominate our 18, but I consider the whole second half to be mine. It’s all about reading the game, so holding a high line is very important.”

Like Father, Like Son

[dropcap]Though[/dropcap] is college days are numbered, Alex hopes to make plenty more saves at the professional level. And he has a pretty good role model to follow at home in that regard. His father, Erhardt was a three-time All-American defender at the University of Connecticut back in the late-70’s. He was then drafted fourth overall by the New York Cosmos in 1981, and went on to start all three matches for United States National Team during the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, California.

“I’ve always been involved in soccer,” Alex said of following in his father’s footsteps. “He’s worked camps and he has great relationships with previous professionals, so just being in the environment and knowing that that’s the path I want to take as well is something that was really important.”

Despite his father’s lofty accomplishments on the pitch, the oldest of three siblings never felt any pressure to live up to any expectations other than his own. Just a small dose of guidance from the dad leaving the rest up to the son.

“He never pushed me or said that I had to play soccer or anything like that. I think the best advice he’s ever given me is just to do what I love. Fortunately enough for me it’s been the same path that he took.”