A little over four years ago, Quinnipiac men’s soccer head coach Eric Da Costa saw a young goalie from Bilbao, Spain and could automatically see he had untapped potential. That young goalie is now the successful and renowned senior captain and goalkeeper for the Bobcats in Borja Angoitia. Angoitia’s most recent accolade is having the most wins in Quinnipiac history now with 28 career wins.
Playing for Quinnipiac since he was a freshman, Angoita has always aspired for greatness in his personal success and for the team. Every year, he comes to the field with the same goal: win the conference championship.
Coming to Quinnipiac, Angoita had big mits to fill following Fredrick Hall, who at the time was the best goalkeeper Quinnipiac has ever seen. But as a result of hard work and dedication he has exceeded the expectations many had for him. Now as a senior and a captain, he is experiencing more pressure than ever trying to lead the Bobcats to back to back MAAC championships.
In the game against Niagara, in which Angoitia broke the record for wins, the teams played even in the first half but the Bobcats came out the winners in the second half to end the match 2-0. This was an exciting finish to the game because it was Angoita’s 27th career win which beat the school record as well as contributed to his growing record in shutouts.
Despite the newly earned title of the Bobcat with the all-time most career victories, Angoitia is still focused on the main goal of making another deep playoff run.
“Everyone was happier for me than I was for myself because I was just happy that we won,” Angoitia said. “So even though this was the 27th win it was the first win of the conference, which is the most important thing for the team. And as much as I want the shutouts I want the wins which is ultimately going to take us to the championship.”
This being his last season in a Bobcat jersey, Angoitia has been able to reflect positively on his years here and is confident to say his level of play is where it is because of the development of the team over the last few years.
“We’ve made it a long way and we’ve changed the program and it’s something I’m really proud of because now Quinnipiac is a respective place and a lot of teams fear playing us which wasn’t like that when I came here so I am very happy with the way things have gone,” Angoitia said.
When Angoita was young and developing, Coach Da Costa was looking for a goalie with consistency and one that could save the difficult shots. Da Costa saw the young goalie as a project that needed to mix his talent with the basic skills of the game. Years later, an older Angoitia proved Da Costa’s intuition right and has brought the Bobcats to many victories over the past several seasons.
Da Costa agrees that by Angoita winning these titles it reflects on the success of the team. Without the entire effort of each player, those 28 wins would not have been possible.
“I am ecstatic for him as a person because I know how hard he works and how bad he wants it, but as a coach I am very proud of what we’ve done as a team in order to put him in that position and what he’s done as an individual to put the team in the position that we’ve been in over the course of four years,” Da Costa said.
Angoitia’s success has set the precedent for the team’s morale and every game they crave more of the taste of victory. Their short term goals as a team included continuing to work hard every day to come prepared for the tough teams ahead such as Monmouth and Iona.
As the team comes closer and closer to the end of another season, Angoitia knows the importance and sentimental meaning behind every match. Even though when he came to Quinnipiac he never intended to accomplish so much.
And with one major title under his belt he is determined and motivated to work for more. Needing only two more shutouts to earn the titles of most shutouts in Quinnipiac history, Angoitia looks to earn that title in order to contribute to the team’s overall record because in the end, his eye is on that championship.
Looking to leave a positive lasting impression on the team, Angoitia plans on leaving Quinnipiac as a winner, both individually and as a team player.
“I’ve been here for four years and I’ve seen it all. I’ve seen what it is to lose I’ve seen what it is to win,” Angoitia said. “I’ve seen what it is to lose in the semi-finals, to win a final to go to the NCAA. So with the experience that I have I’m just trying to help and teach and be as good as a teammate as I can.”
