Hilltopper soccer head coach Ron Blue watches as Tristan Semelsberger signs his letter of intent to play college soccer. Photo by RJ Montaño/ladailypost.com
By RJ Montaño
Los Alamos Daily Post
rjmontano@ladailypost.com
Los Alamos High School Hilltopper soccer captain Senior Tristan Semelsberger has signed a letter of intent to play soccer at NCAA Division II power Colorado School of Mines in Golden, Colo. Semelsberger finished his senior season playing 22 games, scoring 15 goals and grabbing nine assists.
“This is great. I get to continue my journey as a soccer player and the way I see it, the sky’s the limit. I want to keep playing and keep working my hardest,” Semelsberger said during his signing day session. “All the work paid off and I get to keep doing the thing I love.”
The Colorado School of Mines Orediggers captured the 2017 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference championship with a 17-4-1 record while finishing the season ranked ninth in all of D-II. “It’s a great engineering school,” Semelsberger said of choosing Mines. “I get to major in chemical engineering and I get to play D-II soccer at a highly accredited program. It’s truly the best of both worlds.”
Semelsberger said he expects to play in the midfield for the Orediggers, but is holding out hope on starting during his freshman season. “Hopefully I’ll get some good minutes on the pitch and train with a top caliber team,” Semelsberger said. Hilltopper Soccer Head Coach Ron Blue has coached both men’s and women’s teams at the D-II level, and is familiar with RMAC competition. Blue believes Semelsberger’s skill set is a perfect match for the Mines soccer program.
“Off the field [Semelsberger] is vital,” Blue said. “Guys like him and he’s super competitive. He’s going to give you everything he’s got. We’ve been successful the past three years and there’s no question Tristan has been a huge part of that.”
Blue took over the Hilltopper soccer program three years ago and inherited Semelsberger as a sophomore starter. “I’m glad I got the opportunity to coach him the three years that I did,” Blue said of his senior captain. “He was one of our top scorers, and teams know him and are always following him around and pestering him, and Tristan still scores goals.”
“It’s exciting for the program, but I’m more excited for him,” Blue said about one of his players making it to the next level. The last bit of advice Blue gave to Semelsberger as he gets ready to head to college, “Keep working hard, put the time, but enjoy it.”
Senior Tristan Semelsberger signs a letter of intent to play soccer at Colorado School of Mines. Photo by RJ Montaño/ladailypost.com