Anybody who’s ever stepped onto the soccer field, whether as a professional or five-year-old, has to step away at some point.
After his four years at Lehigh University were over – punctuated by a season-ending concussion as a senior – Noah Sutherland came to UCLA in 2022 to earn his master’s degree in financial engineering.
But after one year away from the game, Sutherland has returned to the sport he loves as a graduate student goalkeeper for UCLA men’s soccer.
The Bruins entered the 2023 season with only two goalies after last year’s starting sophomore goalkeeper transferred to the University of Wisconsin-Madison mid-season. In order to fill the gap, the Bruin coaching staff looked to bring in the experienced goalie – who was already at UCLA – enacting a return to the sport for Sutherland.
After graduating from Lehigh with bachelor’s degrees in financial mathematics and computer science engineering, Sutherland left soccer behind and decided to move out west, away from family, to gain more life experience before entering the workforce.
“I always knew soccer would kind of come to an end in college,” Sutherland said. “By the time I came out here, I knew I wasn’t playing and I was ready to kind of be a, quote, ‘normal person’ and just enjoy Los Angeles for what it was without soccer.”
Sutherland’s move to Westwood meant he wasn’t playing soccer and didn’t have the support the sport provides for the first time in his life.
Instead, he made friends outside of the soccer world and became the social chair of his graduate program.
“My entire life, soccer players were my friends. Going into a team, you automatically have a group of 25 to 35 guys that are just automatically your best friend,” Sutherland said. “I was able to choose my friends, and instead of my friends being 18, 19-year-olds, I have 28, 29-year-olds who have already worked full time for six years. So I had to definitely mature a little bit.”
When UCLA’s coaches reached out to him about joining the team, Sutherland said he had to think hard about it, wanting to be responsible with the decision of returning to the sport or not. His dad encouraged him to do what 14-year-old Noah would have wanted – so during finals week of fall quarter, he made the decision to commit.
The day after, Sutherland’s former teammate at Lehigh – now graduate student forward Jack Sarkos – also committed to play for the Bruins.
“He’s (Sutherland) one of my closest friends that I had at my previous college, so he played a huge part in helping me transition to this new team, new environment,” Sarkos said. “I have him to lean on if I need anything. I have questions for him because he’s been here as just a regular student.”
Sutherland trained with some fellow goalkeeper friends back home in Richmond, Virginia, over the winter break to begin getting back in shape before meeting his teammates and starting team training in winter quarter.
Assistant coach and former UCLA goalkeeper Juan Cervantes said once Sutherland got back into shape, he excelled.
“For him, learning how to push the ball again wasn’t hard,” Cervantes said. “The hardest part about coming back into rhythm is just getting back in and getting those reps, but as soon as he got in shape again, it’s just like second nature.”
Sutherland had to readjust to the athlete mentality while getting physically fit. He said he became physically ill after the first week of training with the team.
He added that it was important to him that he be accepted into his master’s program completely on merit, without any help from being a collegiate athlete. Reintegrating soccer into his life has since improved his time management skills, forcing him to complete his work efficiently, resulting in better grades in the classroom.
But on the field, Sutherland is as much a teacher as he is a student. He hopes to be able to mentor some of the younger players as they make the transition to college.
As the second-oldest member of the team and the only upperclassmen goalkeeper, the younger members take Sutherland’s words as wisdom, Cervantes said.
“Game day number one, the pregame meal, I think he had like four freshmen in his table,” Cervantes said. “You can tell right away that those guys gravitate towards him because he has those stories. He has that experience that younger guys want to listen to.”
In particular, Sutherland has taken fellow goalkeepers sophomore Sam Joseph and freshman Wyatt Nelson under his wing. The three train together frequently, including early morning beach practice sessions.
While Sutherland’s return to collegiate soccer likely won’t see him taking the pitch this season, he said it’s been amazing to be back and knows there’s other ways he can bring value to the team.
“Hopefully the guys look at me as a leader,” Sutherland said. “It’s just nice to feel like even though I’m not playing that I do hold an important role in the team and the team’s successes.”
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