On a chilly night in late November 2016, a scoreboard could be seen at the end of a stand-alone soccer field. The vibrant yellow lights were lit up to reveal a score of 2-0 in favor of the home team.

That scoreboard belongs to Tyler Junior College. Tyler, a city with a population of just over 100,000 people, is located outside of Dallas, Texas. The 2-0 win over Monroe College out of New York granted the men’s soccer team the NJCAA National Championship; it also capped the team’s perfect 24-0-0 season with a cherry on top.

Christoph Schneuwly was a member of the 2016 Tyler men’s soccer team that won its fifth National Championship in seven years. The then-sophomore from Schmitten, Switzerland, was awarded NSCAA All-American status for his role as a top defender during the historic season. Additionally, Schneuwly was the Scholar-Athlete of the Year.

Fast forward nine months and Schneuwly, now a transfer junior, is a member of the NC State soccer program. Schneuwly was one of the headline transfers that new Wolfpack head coach George Kiefer brought in for his inaugural season in Raleigh.

“In my opinion, if you’re a top player with a desire to earn a college degree and play professional soccer who gets an opportunity to play in the ACC, you should take that opportunity,” Kiefer told NC State Athletics. “The ACC puts you on such a platform that if you perform well in this conference, you are sure to be a professional player. I’m very excited that Christoph accepted this opportunity.”

Since arriving in the spring, Schneuwly has had some time to get a feel for his new city, playing under a new coach and working out the kinks with a whole new set of teammates.

“I think I’ve adjusted pretty good,” Schneuwly said. “Obviously it’s not that easy coming from somewhere else into a team that has a lot of new players, new coaches, new stuff, everything. It’s not easy and I think we’ll need a little bit of time to find each other to get along better and get to know each other better, but I feel like we’re in a good place so far.”

With two exhibition matches and one regular season game under his belt, Schneuwly has had an opportunity to experience the flow and feel of a Division I match. This has given him the chance to see how making the jump from a junior college compares in terms of competition.

“I think the speed and level are different,” Schneuwly said. “In a junior college, you have some teams that are a little bit on the lower level, then you have excellent teams. I feel like here, in a Division I, especially in the ACC, you only play top games. You have to be on your highest level every game or you won’t succeed. That’s what I was looking for.”

To put it lightly, the competition level that Schneuwly and NC State will face this year will be brutal. Seven of State’s eight ACC contests will come against opponents that were ranked in the preseason polls.

In 24 matches at Tyler during the 2016 season, Schneuwly and his defense conceded a mere nine goals. NC State has conceded three goals through three competitions thus far, one in its second preseason match to No. 24 Connecticut and two to Florida Atlantic in its home opener.

The highly-touted transfer doesn’t exactly have the dimensions one might think would come with an elite defender, standing only 5-feet-8 inches tall and weighing in at 153 pounds. However, Schneuwly makes up for this with lofty aspirations and objectives that he sets for himself and his team.

“Obviously I have the same goal here,” Schneuwly said. “I’m a very ambitious man and I always want to go to the top. Won a national championship at a junior college but still I’m not satisfied yet, I want a national championship here.”

For NC State’s season opener, the Wolfpack took on Florida Atlantic at Dail Soccer Stadium Friday. State students lined up early outside the gates and stayed late to cheer on their team, keeping the stands packed and loud for the entirety of the match.

“It was fantastic, playing in front of so many people,” Schneuwly said. “The people supporting us, being here 50 minutes before the game already, it was a very good atmosphere and I enjoyed it a lot.”

After conceding two goals in the first half, Schneuwly and the defense tightened up and denied any second half opportunities.

While adjusting to NC State on the soccer field is one thing, there are many other changes that coincide with studying at the largest public university in the state of North Carolina.

“It’s a lot bigger, the classrooms are bigger, there’s more people on campus, but I feel like the team has helped me a lot, especially the players that have been here before,” Schneuwly said. “They treat me very well, they showed me how to get around, they told me what I need to do to go to my classes and everything. I still have to adjust a little bit, but I feel like they made it way easier for me.”

For Schneuwly success has never been out of reach, whether that means athletically or academically.

“He has been immersed in an environment that teaches young men to be successful both on the field and in the classroom.” Kiefer told NC State Athletics. “I like to surround myself with people that have an understanding of what it takes to win matches, and Christoph understands that.”

For all the changes Schneuwly has made and will continue to make as he fine-tunes his life as a Wolfpack soccer player, his strive for excellence on and off the field will not be one of them.