NEWTON, Mass. (11/6/13) – On Sunday November 3rd with the snap of his neck and flick of his head, Mike Skelton accomplished something never before done in the history of Lasell College men's soccer, he scored his 50th career goal. His header in the 74th minute of the Lasers Great Northeast Athletic Conference quarterfinal match against Rivier University sent Skelton to the top of the Lasers career scoring list, surpassing Zach Gagne '08 and his 49 career goals.
After missing all but four games of his sophomore season because of multiple stress fractures in his back, Skelton has been an attacking force. He has appeared in 56 games during his final three seasons, scoring in 34 of those appearances. As a sophomore Skelton scored in 11 of his 18 appearances, as a junior he tallied in 10 of the 20 contests he played in. During the 2013 season Skelton has truly made his last season his best season, scoring in 13 out of 18 games.
Including the four matches he scored in during his freshmen year, Lasell is 31-3-4 in the 38 matches when Skelton writes his name on the score sheet. In many cases career record holders are able to boost their career totals with a few big games yet Skelton has only recorded a hat-trick on one occasion, recording multi-goal games on 11 occasions. When Skelton scores two or more goals in a game, Lasell is unbeaten at 11-0.
A young man who carries a 3.0 G.P.A in the Honors Communication program, interns in the Lasell College Sports Information office and writes for "The 1851 Chronicle" the college's newspaper, Skelton's path to historic accomplishments hasn't been the most direct line between two points.
As a young man at Kennett High School in Conway, N.H. Skelton spent just as much time on the ice as he did on the pitch, compiling a prolific hockey career that equaled his exploits on the field. He was the first Kennett hockey player ever to total 100 career points finishing with 140 points in three seasons of varsity action. Skelton's 140 career points still ranks 3rd in the program history and he is the all-time leader in assists after finishing with 85 assists.
Michael Lane, Skelton's hockey coach at Kennett High School certainly hasn't forgotten his former playmaker, "I always knew Michael had incredible soccer talents, it is no surprise he was able to have success after his years at Kennett. In both soccer and hockey he had a great skill set, particularly some of the best hand-eye/foot-eye skills I have ever seen."
Instead of hitting the club soccer circuit in the summer prior to his senior year at Kennett, Skelton chose to spend his summer in England where he was able to challenge himself on the soccer field and focus on his development as a player.
Skelton has a good perspective on his summer of travel, saying "I didn't get as much exposure as I would have if I'd stayed home and played with the club I had been with, but the experience playing in England was hugely beneficial. I really gained a better feel for the game, learned the nuances of reading the action and became a much smarter player."
Armed with new tools as a soccer player, Skelton turned in a successful senior year on the field earning looks from a number of New England programs. Keeping his college decisions on the back burner, Skelton turned his attention to the ice. In his final season wearing a Kennett sweater, Skelton totaled 69 points in just 18 games.
Coach Lane described a version of Skelton that should be familiar to anyone who has seen him take the field for Lasell.
"On the ice Michael always competed on an even keel, he played at a very high level without ever getting too high or too low. He was very consistent; you always knew what you were getting from him."
Skelton had some colleges who were interested in him playing soccer, however he was short on suitors who would provide him the thing he wanted most, the chance to play both soccer and hockey. With that goal in mind Skelton chose to attend Hebron Academy for a postgraduate year, in the hope that he could get enough exposure to play both soccer and hockey in college.
It was during the fall of 2008 at Hebron that Skelton began to get acquainted with Lasell College.
"A few of my friends from high school, Michael Ansaldi '10, Megan Moore '11 and Sarah Januzzi '11 went to Lasell and encouraged me to take a look at the school."
Skelton reached out to men's soccer coach Giovanni Pacini and the Lasers coach made a trip to Maine to see Skelton in person.
Pacini remembers a couple of things from that day when he saw Skelton play for Hebron at Bridgton Academy. "It was a really cold afternoon, and there was little doubt in my mind that Mike could impact our program."
Skelton, still hoping to play both soccer and hockey in college turned his attentions to his hockey season at Hebron. While Skelton was productive in his time on the ice, he struggled to get many opportunities to showcase his ability under a staff that favored players who weren't driven to play multiple sports at the next level.
As his time at Hebron drew to a close, Skelton made the decision to put hockey aside and focus solely on soccer at the college level.
"I know I could have gone to a lower tier Division III school and played both, but I didn't want to sacrifice my experience by playing either sport someplace where it wasn't taken as seriously."
Skelton meanwhile kept coming back to the Newton, Mass. campus where he knew a few familiar faces and where he had connected with members of the team on his visit.
"I really enjoyed the guys on my visit" Skelton said, "they helped me feel at home on the campus and like I would be part of something. The upperclassmen were really invested and that made an impression on me."
Skelton ultimately decided staying close to his New England roots was what he wanted to do, choosing Lasell and beginning his college career in the fall of 2009. His career didn't get off to the smoothest start as a Laser, as he missed out on try-outs the first day of preseason his freshmen year.
"My mom was having a major reunion to celebrate her 40th summer at Camp Huckins, and those people were all a part of my family growing up. It was important to me to be able to be there and share that with her and I'm glad Coach Pacini understood my need to do that. When I got to preseason and he threw me right into the scrimmage session and I'm pretty sure there were some guys looking at me thinking 'who is this guy and where has he been'."
Skelton quickly cemented his place in the 2009 team, playing as a central midfielder and starting 16 out of 19 games. Skelton scored four goals, helped the team to a 10-6-3 record and an appearance in the GNAC semifinals. Skelton's path was interrupted again four games into his sophomore year when he was going up for a ball in a match against Lyndon State and got undercut, suffering four stress fractures in his back and ending his season before it really got going.
"It was tough to watch everyone play and have a full season, but I showed up every day and did what I could to help. I went to all our practices and helped warm up the goalies, but that was all I was allowed to do, it was tough."
Skelton was able to get the year of eligibility back receiving a medical hardship waiver, and after finishing the fall semester he took the spring semester off, heading home to continue to rehab, get healthy and be ready to restart his career.
Entering the 2011 season head coach Giovanni Pacini decided to move Skelton up top, allowing him to capitalize on his goal scoring skills by playing as a forward.
"Simply put, why have him in a position that often times is of distance from the goal when at forward, he is within reasonable proximity to where he can do what he does best, score goals." said Pacini.
"In high school I was scoring from much deeper positions and set pieces, as a forward I can get behind guys" says Skelton.
The move up top opened things up for Skelton almost immediately, and he scored 15 goals in 2011, to set the school record for goals in a season. The team started strongly, but stumbled down the stretch, losing their last three games to finish 9-6-3 and getting eliminated from the GNAC tournament in the quarterfinals. Skelton was named to the GNAC Second Team All-Conference and the NSCAA Second Team All-New England, but the finish to the season took some of the shine off the honor.
As a captain in 2012 Skelton continued producing prolific scoring numbers and with his leadership the team tied the program's record for wins, finishing 15-4-1 and 9-1 in the GNAC before being upset in the GNAC semifinals. Lasell earned their third ever appearance in the ECAC tournament, falling to Endicott on penalty kicks in a torrential downpour. Skelton finished with 14 goals, was named the GNAC Player of the Year and became one of only three players ever at Lasell to be named to the NSCAA First Team All-New England.
As his final season draws nearer to its conclusion, Skelton is in the midst of the best year of his career. He has 17 goals in 18 games, scoring in 13 different contests while helping Lasell to a 14-3-1 record. He's already broken his own single season scoring record and now owns the all-time goals scored record but he isn't ready to stop yet.
Skelton opened up about his senior year thus far, saying "I'm sure 10 years from now I'll look back and be proud of it (the record), but really all I care about is winning the GNAC tournament and helping our team to the NCAA tournament. If we can't get there I'll feel like this season was a failure. A couple of weeks ago if Coach Pacini told me the best chance for us to win was for me to move to center back for the rest of the year, I'd have been back there in a second" adding with a smile, "Although I'm pretty sure he wasn't considering that."
Skelton's record setting goal was a header on a loose ball in front of the Lasers goal, and to those who don't know otherwise it looked like a player who headed home a ball after finding themselves in the right place at the right time. For the people who have seen Skelton play over the last four years, it was something they've seen any many occasions.
Pacini breaks down what makes Skelton such a special player, saying "His technical abilities are on a level all his own. He can stop on a dime or accelerate exhibiting technical skills rarely seen. His ability to read the game contributes to his ability to play the ball and he sees things that most others don't. Athleticism is certainly a key trait. Mike was also a high level hockey player and I have little doubt that no matter what sport he chose to play; he'd excel."
With 50 goals to choose from over the course of Skelton's career it isn't easy to pick out the best, but Pacini pinpointed a couple of moments from the last year that left him shaking his head and smiling in disbelief. "The free kick against St. Joseph's (Maine) was pretty spectacular, and the second goal he scored against Babson (when he out-muscled a Babson defender chipping the closing keeper) stood out from recent memory." Adding, "Mike has been able to score goals at key times and it can be said that those tallies allowed our team to secure victories."
Faced with the impending graduation of his program's all-time leading goal scorer Pacini didn't hesitate to pinpoint what the loss will mean. "We'll miss a likable young man. He is through and through a kind, honest, polite, hard-working young man. His career has featured goals, leadership and outstanding academic achievement. Yes, we'll miss the goals, but we'll miss the young man more."
He is bigger, stronger, and faster than he was when he was terrorizing opposing hockey players on the New Hampshire high school circuit. He has sported a beard during his senior year that is on par with any you'll see come NHL playoff time. His physicality, work ethic and toughness as an athlete would make Claude Julien proud. The reality that, in the history of the men's soccer program at Lasell College there hasn't been anyone better at putting the ball in the net than Mike Skelton is an amazing accomplishment. The fact that he will be remembered more for the person he was in his time on the Newton, Mass. campus than the number of times he put the ball in the net shows just how special a student-athlete Mike Skelton has been.