A lot has changed for the NC State men’s soccer team over the past three years.
A new head coach has entered the program in second-year leader George Kiefer, and with him an overhaul in the coaching staff. The Pack has gone from back-to-back one-win ACC seasons, to an eighth-place conference finish and first trip to the NCAA Tournament since 2009.
Throughout the shift in the program, there has been a constant on the back line: senior right back Simon Blotko. Blotko has started every game for the Wolfpack since the beginning of the 2016 season, having played in 16 matches the year before as well, and has donned the captain’s armband for the Pack for each of the last two seasons.
Entering his senior campaign, Blotko is an unquestioned leader for an NC State team that returns a lot of talent, but also brings in 12 new faces. For a captain, the role of being a leader is especially important in a year like this one.
“I just look at a group right now where we have 12 kids coming in between the age of 17 and 18,” Blotko said. “I think it’s good to have a large group of older people take the lead on and off the field, to just help those young guys with the transition. Obviously, it’s a big step for every one of them so we just try to help them out.”
Leadership is nothing new for Blotko, and his track record is impressive. It’s not every day a sophomore is given the armband and told to lead, but it’s something Blotko earned from former coach Kelly Findley that he has kept during Kiefer’s tenure. For Kiefer, it’s the way that Blotko controls the team on the field that makes the player stand out.
“Simon is very good at driving the whole team when we’re without the ball,” Kiefer said. “It’s a game where you’ve got to constantly keep talking to each other and reminding each other of things. He’s very vocal at helping us with that. His intensity, that sort of stuff is infectious, where it starts to catch with other players. He’s a really important piece.”
Blotko hails from Dusseldorf, Germany, where soccer is as much a part of life as eating and sleeping. He came up through the youth systems of Bayer Leverkusen and Wuppertaler SV, before transitioning to the American game at NC State.
That transition, for any European player, is a tough one. Not only does the game change, but so does that player’s way of life. The game here is faster, with less tactics and more quick restarts, according to Blotko. However, it was that change off the field that was more significant.
“Coming from another country, adjusting to the culture here and being in a college environment and spending every day with the team [was most challenging],” Blotko said. “Off the field, on the field, living together. It makes you grow as a person, especially far away from home.”
Blotko has adjusted as well off the field as he has on it. He’s a three-time member of ACC Honor Roll, and was named to the ACC All-Academic Team last season. On the field, he helped bolster a defense that gave up just a little over one goal per game, while also collecting three assists moving up the field.
NC State’s defense is perhaps its strongest asset, and while the whole back line along with sophomore goalkeeper Leon Krapf are very good, Blotko’s leadership helps define the unit. Sophomore defender David Norris had nothing but praise for his captain.
“He’s a great guy. Very studious, gets his work done. Sets an example for how guys should get it done,” Norris said. “He definitely helps. Simon is a great guy to have on the back line. There’s a lot of guys on the team who lead very well and I think that’s going to help us out a lot this year.”
Blotko has put together three strong years at NC State, but now in the stretch run his team is better than ever. The Pack is set up to have its strongest year in a long time, and with a large senior class, led on and off the field by Blotko, things are falling into place for the Wolfpack.
“Obviously, it’s a special year, knowing that my college journey will end after this season,” Blotko said. “I think I can speak for the whole senior group that we’re all on the same page and we are all here to help the program getting back to where it used to be in the past and where it should be. We have a lot of work ahead of us, and we’re all very happy that it’s starting up now.”
The Wolfpack kicks off its second year under Kiefer, and third with Blotko captaining, Friday against USC Upstate at home. Looking ahead to the future, Blotko, who is studying business administration, would love the opportunity to play soccer at the next level; he says he can’t imagine he’d stop playing soccer, and that it would be very hard to do.
For now, the focus is on this season. The team has goals both on and off the field, and apart from winning and playing good soccer, Blotko has one specific goal for himself as he takes the NCAA field for a final season.
“For me personally, just enjoy every minute that’s left,” Blotko said. “Everyone warned me at the very beginning that time will fly by and it does, for sure. I’m just trying to enjoy every moment and, of course, be as successful as possible.”
