Colm Vance took over the starting goalkeeper's job last year and back-stopped the York University Lions men's soccer team to its best season in program history with OUA and CIS championship titles. He is back for an encore this season, hoping to once again lead the Lions to the top.
 
Vance spent three seasons as the back-up goalkeeper for the program, making his first career start in the 2012 OUA bronze medal game and appearing in a few others throughout the stretch. While he waited for his turn to be the starter, he used every opportunity to develop his game.
 
"There was a lot of psychological preparation and a lot of work with [goalie coach] Gerry [Pennant] on the smallest of details, so I could prepare for every moment. I also learned a lot by watching Sotiri [Varlokostas] and used every game as a teaching lesson."
 
The wait paid off for Vance and the team as he was tremendous in his first full season between the posts. He ranked first in the OUA in goals against average (0.26) and second in save percentage (.921) and was even better in the playoffs, recording a cleansheet in all five starts he made as the Lions ran the table against some of the best teams in the country.
 
Vance relished the chance to be the starter, a role he had been building towards since first becoming a goalkeeper at the age of eight when his coach made him do it because he was the only one who wasn't afraid of the ball.
 
"Driving to my first game, it was like being five years old and being so excited for Christmas morning. We ended up having a really good Christmas! I really enjoyed being the leader for the team. I have the eyes of the whole field and I can see everything that is happening, and then from that I can direct the rest of my teammates."
 
His eventual success at York almost didn't happen at all as Vance had originally decided to go Wilfrid Laurier University for school and to play soccer for the Golden Hawks. He had already moved into residence and was enrolled in classes, but on a whim decided to leave and spend the rest of the year working before heading back to school.
 
"When I was coming back to school, I did more research on the soccer programs and decided to come to York. I remember making a good play at my first practice, and I felt like I had something to prove here. That's what kept me coming back."
 
Four years later, Vance is a leader not just for the men's soccer team but also within the York Lions community as a volunteer and student-athlete mentor. His more long-term plans include applying to medical school, and one day he'd like to be a family doctor in a small village and also work with Doctors Without Borders.
 
"I am looking at the academic adventure of what's to come next, but soccer is definitely going to stick around. All I've done since I was eight years old is go to school and play soccer. My plans right now are to stay in school, further my knowledge of the world and then make my way into it."
 
For now, however, he is focused on earning his degree in kinesiology and health science and guiding the Lions to another national championship before his career ends and he turns to what is next.