In an age of specialization, Will Karp is a throwback.
The Hopewell Valley Central High School senior is headed for Haverford College to play baseball next year. When a player’s future is in one sport, he or she often sticks strictly with that sport in order to stay in a groove and not risk injury in a secondary activity.
Fortunately for the Bulldogs’ boys’ soccer team, Karp doesn’t think that way and was a driving force in the squad’s path to the NJSIAA North Jersey II Group III championship game. Hopewell lost to Mendham, 2-1, in the Nov. 13 matchup.
“I always love competing, and it never crossed my mind that I wouldn’t want to do both soccer and baseball,” Karp said. “I absolutely love both sports and I just could not choose between them.”
Because of his baseball responsibilities, Karp does not play travel soccer and admits that he sometimes wonders how good he could be were he to play at a high level throughout the year.
“The reality is that you can only be as good as what you work towards,” he said. “Because I put my work in towards baseball, I can never become the best I could be at soccer. This never bothered me because I love baseball and that is where I want to become my best.”
Hopewell boys’ soccer coach Ed Gola feels that because Karp does not play year round, it actually keeps him healthier over the course of the season.
“He’s less susceptible to soccer related injuries,” Gola said. “The more you play, the better you get, but you’re also using these muscles all year round and a lot of those guys get hurt.”
The most significant hurting involved with Karp is the one he puts on opposing players. His tenacity in head-to-head battles is intense. Although he plays center back, his coach praised the way he is able to close gaps on the wing if an outside defender gets beat. Gola said Karp is “a tremendous athlete.”
Karp can’t remember how old he was when he started playing rec soccer, but he quickly fell in love with the sport and began travel at age seven. Numerous teammates became lifelong friends and played with Karp on the HVCHS squad this season.
“Sports were my favorite thing to do,” he said. “But part of that was due to the friends I had on the team.”
Karp played travel through his sophomore year but the burden of doing that and baseball became too much and so he decided to just play high school soccer. He played for both the freshman and JV teams in 9th grade and was a varsity performer the next three seasons.
During his first two varsity campaigns, Karp played at sweeper back and was primarily responsible for marking the other team’s top scorer. This season, Gola switched to zone and put him at center-mid.
“It was a transition year, but really it was more for the coaching staff than us players,” Karp said. “We have all played the zonal defense every summer with the travel teams and often with each other, so it came naturally. We have a lot of guys that are very intelligent soccer players, which is rare for a team with so many starting underclassmen.”
Karp has played in the back for his entire career. He said he loves the challenge because defenders must be consistent throughout the game.
“As an offensive player you only need to beat the defender once or twice to be effective,” he said. “As a defender, you can’t be beat at all. It’s the physical battles that really make defense fun, but obviously I would also have plenty of fun if I was moved to an offensive position to try and score a few goals.”
When it comes to defending, Karp said the key depends on what type of player he is marking. His favorite counterparts are the strikers who like to use their speed.
“I can run with them and neutralize their best skill,” he said. “If they are faster than me, I can get more physical with them.”
Then there are the strikers who are better with their feet, which means if Karp can’t deny them the ball, he has to be on them the moment they receive it.
“The most important thing is your personal limitations compared to the forwards,” he said. “If he’s faster or bigger or smaller or whatever, you need to adjust accordingly.”
At this year’s CVC Coach’s meeting to pick the All-Conference team, Gola had no trouble bragging about Karp and paid him the ultimate compliment.
“I told the coaches he’s the type of guy that every one wants on the team,” Gola said. “He just loves to play. He loves athletics. He always has a smile on his face, he’s always up for a challenge. He’s quick, he’s just been tremendous for us.”
He was named captain of the Bulldogs at the end of last year.
“He’s a leader on the field, not only vocally but by his passion,” Gola said. “The way he plays on the field rubs off on everybody else. He’s unbelievable.”
Karp’s soccer career came to a heartbreaking end when Mendham scored in the final minute of the sectional final to take the title. But that couldn’t take away from the Bulldogs’ great ride in their first season in the North Jersey sectional.
“We made it to the finals when more than half of our starting lineup was in the trainer’s room every practice,” he said. “The injuries we endured would have ruined any other team’s season, but our depth was unprecedented.”
Even better than the success on the field, was the camaraderie off of it.
“Our chemistry was unreal, unlike any other team for any sport that I have been a part of,” Karp said. “We all hang out outside of soccer. We have some real characters on this team that make all of us laugh or confused, but mostly both. This is definitely the best team I have played on.”
And something a baseball future could not stand in the way of.
Will Karp heads the ball in the second half of the NJSIAA North Jersey Section II Group III first round game on Nov. 3, 2015. Second-seeded Hopewell Valley shut out 15th-seeded Jersey City-based Ferris High School at home, 4-0. Karp had an assist in the game. (Photo by Martin Griff.),
