The Colby-Sawyer men's soccer team gathered in November for their annual season-ending team banquet. Head Coach Zack Grady recapped the season, honored all coaches and support staff, thanked the graduating seniors and announced the team awards. The players voted Andres Cuellar-Vera as the team's Rookie of the Year. Andres was the team's starting left back before being switched to be one of the starting central defensive midfielder's for Grady's squad. An instrumental part of the team, Cuellar-Vera scored his first collegiate goal against St. Joseph's College of Maine on October 21st.
Cuellar-Vera is from Bonita Springs, which is a 30-minute drive up the coast from Naples, Florida. The change of scenery is one that Cuellar-Vera has embraced with open arms. "It's been a positive change," Cuellar-Vera said. "I'm the type of person that doesn't like experiencing the same things over and over again so it's nice to switch it up." New London was in the single-digits for temperature this past Saturday, a novel experience for Cuellar-Vera. "Of course the cold has been the biggest struggle and I genuinely didn't expect to ever feel this cold. What's been fun has been honestly experiencing so many new things at college that I've never done before."
Cuellar-Vera has embraced his new surroundings, all the while being very appreciative of his hometown, 1500 miles south of New London. "Some of my favorite parts about living in Bonita Springs was the warm weather and taking advantage of that and doing activities like going to the beach, the park, or zoo." Most of Cuellar-Vera's family and friends don't live too far from him in Florida, which is another bonus. "Having my family and my home town friends near me was nice as well to do those activities with."
The men's soccer team finished the 2025 season with a 4-10-4 record. Cuellar-Vera and the team are tapping into a newfound hunger to work and improve for the next season. "Individually I hope to prioritize the gym and get bigger, maintain my level of fitness, and consistently get touches on the ball to get better ball mastery." Cuellar-Vera will also attend regular strength and conditioning sessions with the team's strength and conditioning fellow, RJ Humphreys, in the newly renovated Varsity Weight Room.
Cuellar-Vera, who is a Business Administration major at Colby-Sawyer, talked about the team's process to improve as a collective. "As a team I hope that we can all improve our fitness and making sure that we go as many futsal sessions as we can so we can come back in the spring as sharp as possible and build upon that so that in the fall we can be ready to compete and win the GNAC." Although pre-season starts in August, Cuellar-Vera and the men's soccer team don't see that as a reason to not work and improve, even when the snow is falling and the temperatures are frigid.
The men's soccer team's 2025 Rookie of the Year, is an all-around person, embraces change, and looks to improve and get better where he can.
WRITTEN BY ERIC DESCHNER
