BY CHRISTOPHER CASSIDY
After declining offers from Division III programs and spending a semester at a community college, Junior goalkeeper Anthony Bellomo found his spot on Stonehill’s Division II soccer team.
No schools checked all the boxes off during his initial recruiting process.
“At one of the schools, I wouldn’t have been able to play freshman year; I would have had to try out in the spring,” Bellomo said. “Another one, I liked the program, but I just didn’t like the academic opportunity.”
Bellomo went to high school in Salem, New Hampshire, and he played three years of varsity soccer. He decided on Northern Essex Community College in Haverhill, Massachusetts where he spent his fall semester of freshman year before transferring to Stonehill College in the spring of 2020.
“I had a good year at Northern Essex,” he said. “I finished top five in the country in saves that year, and it felt like I created a good name for myself there.”
Bellomo made 167 saves which ranked fourth amongst goalkeepers in all the NJCAA and had an .852 save percentage which ranked seventh. Going through the recruiting process, Bellomo went to a recruiting camp at Stonehill, where Head Coach Jim Reddish offered him a spot on the team.
“When he said there was an opportunity to play now, I wanted to jump on that,” he said.
Due to the pandemic, Bellomo had only spent two months on campus before the school forced everyone to go home.
When the campus reopened in the fall of 2020, Bellomo suffered from thoracic outlet syndrome in his left shoulder.
“I learned remotely and did physical therapy for my shoulder,” Bellomo said. “I was forced to miss practice through that whole period of time.”
Although he returned to campus for the spring semester, he was limited to just four practices a week and five scrimmages because of the new COVID regulations on athletics. Fall 2021 marks Bellomo's first real season as Skyhawk.
“All of the guys are great,” he said. “They did a great job making me feel comfortable and a part of the community.”
Bellomo said he has dreamt of the opportunity to play at the NCAA level since he was a kid, and is just grateful to have the chance to do so this year.
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