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Summer Spotlight: Raul Urshela, Men's Soccer and Volleyball

Summer Spotlight: Raul Urshela, Men's Soccer and Volleyball

Two-sport student-athete Raul Urshela has been the most prolific offensive player on both the men's soccer and volleyball teams. On the court, the Bear commencing his senior year this fall is a two-time All-HVIAC Team selection and already holds the career record in kills (585), blocks (131) and points (741.5) in just three seasons. On the field, Urshela helped kick start the soccer program in his freshman year and was the AD3I Rookie of the Year after scoring nine goals and was an All-HVMAC Team honoree last year. He currently is the all-time leader in goals (24), points (50) and shots on goal (58). In addition to his athletic accomplishments, Urshela has received USCAA and HVIAC All-Academic Team honors the past two seasons.


About you

I came to St. Joseph's because…

I came to St. Joseph's because… I actually wasn't supposed to come to St Joe's,  It's funny because the first time I ever even saw the school was when I attended my freshman orientation, but a full ride scholarship and the opportunity for a kid from a third world country like Colombia to live in New York was too much for me to pass

Your major…

Biology

Career goals after graduation…

I plan to go into graduate school and do something with sports medicine, I've always wanted to help people and I am of course an athlete so why not mix both?

My dream job is…

Being an athletic trainer/team doctor for a professional team actually, you get to help people, you get to go to games for free, you get to meet new people and you get to reminisce your own athletic experiences

Summer plans…

I am washing dishes for Bonefish Grill this summer, and I actually like doing it (my girlfriend will think I'm lying LOL) because it keeps me humble and it keeps me focused on school, because as horrible as this job might be, it makes me want to do even better in college so that I do not have to get stuck with jobs like this one my entire life. I live in Florida but I am staying at my friend's house in Jersey so I guess you can say I'm traveling and definitely working out, in fact I run close to 4 miles almost every day, which takes a lot of guts considering I need to rest my legs to be standing for 7 hours at my job

A unique/interesting talent of mine…

is being bilingual a talent?

On being a Bear...

Best moment in a Bears uniform… 

Soccer:

Team wise: Getting the first win in program history with the team scoring 10 goals!
Individual wise: that bicycle kick though, Shout out to Matt!………

Volleyball:

Team Wise: Either making it to the HVIAC final or that furious comeback from 2 sets down at the hostile Webb crowd 
Individual: Becoming the all time leader in kills and the 500th kill at John Jay; I just started playing volleyball my senior year of high school so I was humbled when this milestone was reached, I give all the credit to my teammates and coaches

Funniest moment in practice/pre-game with Coach…

All those times guessing the sex of Kathleen's [O'Neill] kid were priceless 

Pre-game rituals or superstitions…

I have the strangest superstitions; One is that If I sleep late or don't sleep at all the day before a game I play better, tucking an empty bag of chips on my socks to give me good luck oh and it's unusual for a volleyball player to wear their jersey while warming up.

My pump up song before a game is…

Whatever gets the juices flowing

Favorite road trip so far…

Washington D.C with the Volleyball team my Sophomore year; that game vs Washington Adventist had to be the best game a St Joseph's Volleyball team has played in their history, and bonding with the guys while doing that scavenger hunt around the nation's capital….yeah I know……was actually a great experience.

My goal(s) for next season is/are to…

For Soccer: make it to the HVIAC playoffs for the first time and why not make a run to the title and an USCAA tournament berth?, also doing it while we achieve a winning record for the first time

For Volleyball: Win the HVIAC, the loss in the championship game last year gave us experience and I know the guys are hungry. Oh and keep improving, we were 4 games short of .500 so we want to get there

On being social media famous…

Twitter or Facebook? 

Twitter, although I like Instagram better than both

Number of…

Twitter followers: 162 (pitiful I know) [@raulio_922]
Facebook friends: 832
Instagram followers: 418 (and losing some by the minute) [@raulio_922]

The most likes you've received on an Instagram photo and what was the photo of? 

59 likes and it was me and my younger brother Alfredo after he graduated from my alma mater Colonial High early this summer


True or false? I overuse hashtags.

#nope #lol

Your favorites…

Favorite sports team(s)… 

NBA: Lakers
MLB: Marlins
NFL: Dolphins
Soccer: Real Madrid
Any Colombian or American National Team
College: Florida Gators and of course St Joseph's College (not the Patchogue campus though)

Favorite professional athlete (past or present) …

Kobe Bryant: his determination and work ethic is infectious and James Rodriguez: Rewatch the 2014 world cup so you know why

Favorite TV show…

Fresh Prince of Bel Air, I even use quotes of that show in real life and me and my brothers have insiders because of it…….. RIP James Avery

Favorite SJC Staff member…

Two people actually, Pugay [Anthony Macapugay] for the fact that he is the one that makes us look good in every sense of the word and Keith Outlaw the man who is responsible for bringing me into this school and making sure I stayed here whenever things seemed to look bleak

Favorite quote/motto…

"When the going gets tough the tough get going" don't know who said it but I will give the credit to my dad who has said this since I can even remember, or "Dont ride the St Angela's Hall Elevator", uttered by every single person part of the SJC community, and ignored by yours truly when I got stuck my freshman year.

Final thoughts…

Anything you'd like to share with all the fans out there …

When I came into St Joseph's I had no intentions to play any sport, in fact I had no expectations from the school at all. Transitioning from a high school of two campuses to a school with a student population that doesn't reach 1,000 was very tough, and it was so bad that I almost transferred…..and let me tell you, I thank God every day that those wishes never materialized…....I have met incredible people in this campus (teammates, coaches, staff, professors, people at Evodio's, the library etc etc etc)  who have all helped turn me into the person I am at this moment of my life, I am beyond blessed that I somehow found this school, or as I like to say the school found me. Being part of the SJC Bears community, which have been the best years of my life, has given me an outlook in life that will always be part of me whether is a year, 5 years or 60 years from now. It is sad that my time here is dwindling down but there is still one chapter left, and I promise to every person associated to this wonderful institution that the best is yet to come, that you will see me give my all whenever I have that jersey on, because it is not only what you deserve, it is also what you need. Hope to see you all there, Go Bears and Go Lady Bears. 


Previous Summer Spotlights:

David Louison, Men's Basketball
Anna Carbone, Women's Volleyball and Swimming
Kyle Johnson, Men's Soccer and Tennis 
Morgan Summers, Women's Swimming and Softball
Vinny Rossi, Baseball and Men's Soccer
Shannon Rom, Women's Soccer, Softball and Swimming
Matt O'Neill, Men's Basketball and Soccer
Anthony Macapugay, Sports Information Director 
Maciej Siekierski, Facility Manager/Intramural & Recreation Coordinator
Taylor Raccuglia, Women's Basketball
Raul Urshela, Men's Volleyball and Soccer
Jennifer Moncino, Women's Volleyball and Swimming (August 18th)

Our Summer Spotlight feature runs on Mondays and Thursdays. Check back on Monday, August 18th for our next Spotlight
and don't forget to follow our summer Top 10 list every Tuesday!