{"id":3084,"date":"2021-04-28T13:36:46","date_gmt":"2021-04-28T13:36:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/?p=3084"},"modified":"2025-02-10T13:12:52","modified_gmt":"2025-02-10T18:12:52","slug":"vinny-tasca-a-goalkeeper-achieves-his-goal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/2021\/04\/28\/vinny-tasca-a-goalkeeper-achieves-his-goal\/","title":{"rendered":"Vinny Tasca: A Goalkeeper Achieves His Goal"},"content":{"rendered":"<style>.kadence-column3084_cfa5ca-f7 > .kt-inside-inner-col{padding-right:var(--global-kb-spacing-lg, 3rem);padding-bottom:var(--global-kb-spacing-lg, 3rem);padding-left:var(--global-kb-spacing-lg, 3rem);}.kadence-column3084_cfa5ca-f7 > .kt-inside-inner-col,.kadence-column3084_cfa5ca-f7 > .kt-inside-inner-col:before{border-top-left-radius:0px;border-top-right-radius:0px;border-bottom-right-radius:0px;border-bottom-left-radius:0px;}.kadence-column3084_cfa5ca-f7 > .kt-inside-inner-col{column-gap:var(--global-kb-gap-sm, 1rem);}.kadence-column3084_cfa5ca-f7 > .kt-inside-inner-col{flex-direction:column;}.kadence-column3084_cfa5ca-f7 > .kt-inside-inner-col > .aligncenter{width:100%;}.kadence-column3084_cfa5ca-f7 > .kt-inside-inner-col:before{opacity:0.3;}.kadence-column3084_cfa5ca-f7{position:relative;}@media all and (max-width: 1024px){.kadence-column3084_cfa5ca-f7 > .kt-inside-inner-col{flex-direction:column;justify-content:center;}}@media all and (max-width: 991px){.kadence-column3084_cfa5ca-f7 > .kt-inside-inner-col{flex-direction:column;justify-content:center;}}<\/style>\n<div class=\"wp-block-kadence-column kadence-column3084_cfa5ca-f7 dynamic-main-col\"><div class=\"kt-inside-inner-col\"><style>.wp-block-kadence-advancedheading.kt-adv-heading3084_05629c-62, .wp-block-kadence-advancedheading.kt-adv-heading3084_05629c-62[data-kb-block=\"kb-adv-heading3084_05629c-62\"]{font-size:1.5rem;line-height:30px;font-weight:500;font-style:italic;font-family:proxima-nova;color:#808080;}.wp-block-kadence-advancedheading.kt-adv-heading3084_05629c-62 mark.kt-highlight, .wp-block-kadence-advancedheading.kt-adv-heading3084_05629c-62[data-kb-block=\"kb-adv-heading3084_05629c-62\"] mark.kt-highlight{font-style:normal;color:#f76a0c;-webkit-box-decoration-break:clone;box-decoration-break:clone;padding-top:0px;padding-right:0px;padding-bottom:0px;padding-left:0px;}.wp-block-kadence-advancedheading.kt-adv-heading3084_05629c-62 img.kb-inline-image, .wp-block-kadence-advancedheading.kt-adv-heading3084_05629c-62[data-kb-block=\"kb-adv-heading3084_05629c-62\"] img.kb-inline-image{width:150px;vertical-align:baseline;}<\/style>\n<p class=\"kt-adv-heading3084_05629c-62 wp-block-kadence-advancedheading\" data-kb-block=\"kb-adv-heading3084_05629c-62\">Vinny Tasca\u2019s path to&nbsp;becoming an All-American soccer goal-keeper is the classic story \u2014 common not just to sports but many other endeavors: the emergency fill-in who, more or less by accident, finds his niche with the team, company, business, organization, etc.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For Tasca, it occurred when he was 11. The regular goalkeeper didn\u2019t show up for a game, the coach asked him if he would play the position, and Tasca said, \u201cSure.\u201d&nbsp; &nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cI made a lot of saves in the game,\u201d he remembers, \u201cso the coach asked me if I wanted to stay in as goalie, and I said yes.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It was a fortuitous decision, not only for Tasca, but for Wilmington University.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>By the summer after his junior year at Methacton High School (Eagleville, Pennsylvania), Tasca had grown to his full 6 feet, 5 inches, and was playing club ball in a tournament at the YSC sports complex in Wayne, Pennsylvania. That\u2019s where WilmU Coach Nick Papanicolas, who was coaching another team in the tournament, noticed him. Papanicolas asked to be introduced to Tasca, the two talked, and soon afterward \u201cCoach Nick\u201d offered the young goalkeeper a scholarship.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Since Tasca didn\u2019t start at Methacton until his senior year, he had not received any college offers at that point, and he jumped at the chance to come to Wilmington.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Says Papanicolas: \u201cI saw potential that day, and once he arrived at WilmU, he worked to get better every day.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n<style>.kb-image3084_9102ba-a3 .kb-image-has-overlay:after{opacity:0.3;}<\/style>\n<div class=\"wp-block-kadence-image kb-image3084_9102ba-a3\"><figure class=\"alignright size-medium\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"250\" height=\"167\" src=\"https:\/\/blog.test.wilmu.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/VinnyTasca-1-250x167.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"kb-img wp-image-3085\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/VinnyTasca-1-250x167.jpg 250w, https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/VinnyTasca-1-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/VinnyTasca-1-720x480.jpg 720w, https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/VinnyTasca-1.jpg 1200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 250px) 100vw, 250px\" \/><figcaption><em>Vinny Tasca<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>Under former Goalkeeper Coach Greg Cope, Tasca steadily improved, starting seven games as a freshman, becoming the full-time goalkeeper his sophomore year, earning a berth on the All-East Region and All-CACC teams his junior year, and finishing his college career in 2018 by being named Conference Goalkeeper of the Year and first-team All-American.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Now, he\u2019s pursuing a professional soccer career, hoping to play the game he loves for a living.&nbsp;Which is not surprising to Coach Nick.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cVinny is a tremendous person with a great work ethic because of the values instilled in him by his mother and by his grandparents, who helped to raise him,\u201d says Papanicolas. \u201cAll we did was give him the atmosphere to grow as a player and person and then set the stage for him to perform and showcase his skills.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Tasca is the first to acknowledge the support he received from his mother, Denise, a physical therapist, and his grandparents. \u201cMy grandparents definitely played a huge part in my life, as well as so many other family members who helped my mom out while she worked all the time to support my sister and me. My mom always made sure she was at my games and practices, even working two jobs sometimes.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n<style>.kb-image3084_ffa731-31.kb-image-is-ratio-size, .kb-image3084_ffa731-31 .kb-image-is-ratio-size{max-width:300px;width:100%;}.wp-block-kadence-column > .kt-inside-inner-col > .kb-image3084_ffa731-31.kb-image-is-ratio-size, .wp-block-kadence-column > .kt-inside-inner-col > .kb-image3084_ffa731-31 .kb-image-is-ratio-size{align-self:unset;}.kb-image3084_ffa731-31 figure{max-width:300px;}.kb-image3084_ffa731-31 .image-is-svg, .kb-image3084_ffa731-31 .image-is-svg img{width:100%;}.kb-image3084_ffa731-31 .kb-image-has-overlay:after{opacity:0.3;}<\/style>\n<div class=\"wp-block-kadence-image kb-image3084_ffa731-31\"><figure class=\"alignleft size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"332\" height=\"480\" src=\"https:\/\/blog.test.wilmu.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/VinnyTasca-2-332x480.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"kb-img wp-image-3086\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/VinnyTasca-2-332x480.jpg 332w, https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/VinnyTasca-2-173x250.jpg 173w, https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/VinnyTasca-2.jpg 346w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 332px) 100vw, 332px\" \/><figcaption><em>Vinny Tasca<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>As for his development as a player, both Tasca and Papanicolas credit Cope with honing his goalkeeping skills. The manager of Admissions Services for the University, Cope is taking a break from coaching, but he says Tasca was one of the best he saw in his 20 years of working with goalkeepers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cVinny was athletic and good when he was a senior in high school, and when he came here he was an incredible kid to work with,\u201d Cope says. \u201cAnything I showed him, he worked and worked and worked to put that skill into his game. The development until his senior year was unreal. In fact, he should\u2019ve been Goalkeeper of the Year twice, but he got edged out his junior year.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Tasca, who earned a degree in Sports Management, describes his WilmU experience as \u201cawesome.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s not your traditional college with dorm rooms and campus and everything, but our sports facilities were very good compared to other teams in our conference. I think we had the best fields and [sports] complex. And the team was really close, we all hung out together, and I got to meet people from other countries and learn about other cultures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cI also really appreciate Coach Nick and Coach Cope and everything they did for me to play on after college. I wouldn\u2019t have been able to do that without their guidance.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group alignwide wu-blockquote-row is-nowrap is-layout-flex wp-container-core-group-is-layout-ad2f72ca wp-block-group-is-layout-flex\">\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote wu-blockquote-simple is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>I think we had the best fields and [sports] complex. And the team was really close, we all hung out together, and I got to meet people from other countries and learn about other cultures.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>Tasca is continuing to work on his game as he moves into a pro career. As with all aspects of life in 2020, COVID-19 affected his plans. After graduating in 2019, he caught on with a National Independent Soccer Association team in Charlotte, North Carolina, but last spring, COVID hit, and NISA shut down. Tasca then signed with the Austin (Texas) Bold of the USL Championship league as a back-up goalkeeper for the last nine games of the team\u2019s season. In his lone start, against Kansas City II, he recorded a 4-0 shutout.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>With the off-season, Tasca moved to Bluffton, South Carolina, with his girlfriend, Brianna Cunha, also a 2019 grad who played volleyball at WilmU. He\u2019s working at Dick\u2019s Sporting Goods and spending many hours each week on Bluffton playing fields, concentrating on drills that will increase his agility and quickness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>He\u2019s currently without a team, but he hopes to hear soon about new opportunities from his agents, ProConnect Soccer. After his pro career is over, Tasca hopes to stay connected with sports, perhaps as a coach. With his degree in Sports Management, and the examples set by Papanicolas and Cope, his chances of success are excellent.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Vinny Tasca\u2019s path to&nbsp;becoming an All-American soccer goal-keeper is the classic story \u2014 common not just to sports but many other endeavors: the emergency fill-in&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":3087,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_kad_blocks_custom_css":"","_kad_blocks_head_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_body_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_footer_custom_js":"","_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"_kad_post_classname":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[135],"tags":[621],"class_list":["post-3084","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-magazine","tag-magazine-spring-2021"],"acf":[],"taxonomy_info":{"category":[{"value":135,"label":"MAGAZINE"}],"post_tag":[{"value":621,"label":"Magazine Spring 2021"}]},"featured_image_src_large":["https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/VinnyTasca-3-750x471.jpg",750,471,true],"author_info":{"display_name":"Eric Mumford","author_link":"https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/author\/eric\/"},"comment_info":0,"category_info":[{"term_id":135,"name":"MAGAZINE","slug":"magazine","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":692,"taxonomy":"category","description":"","parent":0,"count":431,"filter":"raw","cat_ID":135,"category_count":431,"category_description":"","cat_name":"MAGAZINE","category_nicename":"magazine","category_parent":0}],"tag_info":[{"term_id":621,"name":"Magazine Spring 2021","slug":"magazine-spring-2021","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":1178,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":23,"filter":"raw"}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3084","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3084"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3084\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15545,"href":"https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3084\/revisions\/15545"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3087"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3084"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3084"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3084"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}