 | | | Preston and his father, Richard, celebrate the victory over Princeton Photo Florida Gulf Coast University Athletics | | | | | | A pair of former Lamorinda soccer standouts made national news on the same play Sept. 10, but for very different reasons. Former Campolindo student Preston Kilwien scored the game-winning goal for Florida Gulf Coast University against Princeton on an improbable 35-yard strike that earned the No. 3 spot on ESPN SportsCenter's Plays of the Day - it was also featured on Fox Sports 1's national sports update.
The goal, which ended Princeton's nation-leading 10-match unbeaten streak, was scored against Tigers' senior goalkeeper Ben Hummel, an Orinda native and 2012 graduate of Bentley School in Lafayette. Kilwien, who graduated last spring from College Park High School, was making his first collegiate appearance and the score gave FGCU its first win of the season after a scoreless draw against then-No. 3 ranked Georgetown and a narrow 1-0 loss at No. 20 Wake Forest.
That two former Lamorinda soccer stars met on a field more than 3,000-miles away from home is noteworthy in and of itself, but the fact that both players spent time as youth players at Concord-based Diablo FC and played for current Saint Mary's associate head coach Chris Brown makes for an even greater coincidence.
"I had a lot of space on the left side and Rodrigo (Saravia) did a good job of finding me," explained Kilwien. "I got the trap and it wasn't the greatest touch, but I just hit it. I didn't really know it was in until I saw it hit the net. It was the greatest moment I've had so far."
Kilwien also had another memorable goal as a sophomore at Campo. He scored a sudden death overtime goal at Ygnacio Valley that sent the Cougars to the North Coast Section Finals under coach Shane Carney. Kilwien, a two-time team offensive MVP for Campo, played his final high school season for the De Anza Force Academy in Cupertino, California. Hummel, a senior at Princeton, has started 22 games for the Tigers, earning Ivy League all-conference honors last year as a junior.
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Lamorinda Weekly, Moraga CA