College Soccer
Gray brothers chasing one more trophy together at Grove City
Brotherhood is a theme commonly talked about this time of year when teams gear up for the postseason and consider the opportunities and possibilities of goal celebrations and hardware. Of playing for that elusive trophy, of going out a champion.
For Noah Gray and his younger brother Judah Gray, brotherhood is literal and the bond they’ve built over countless hours playing the sport they both fell in love with back home in Glen Mills has brought them on the cusp of one more championship run together at Grove City.
The Christian Academy graduates have battled injuries that limited their time playing together in high school, disrupted the recruiting process and at times lessened their combined impact on the field but their bond is unmistakable – from the playoff mustaches they are both sporting to the way their eyes light up talking about the impact chasing their soccer dreams together has had on them personally.
“Getting a lot of minutes together on the field this season has been really fun,” Noah Gray said. “And being together not just on the field but we live on the same hall and just having him around is really fun as well.”
Though Judah is currently dealing with a hamstring injury, the brothers have played more together this season than they have in some time since Noah was hurt their senior year of high school and Judah was a reserve player his freshman year last year at Grove City. The duo has combined for more than 1,600 minutes and two dozen goal contributions.
Noah has followed up his second-team All-American season last year with another stat sheet-stuffing season, leading the team with 12 goals and 8 assists despite drawing a lot more attention from opponents. He’s 4 goals and 2 assists away from 40/20 for his career.
“I’d rather go one v one than three v one but I think it’s also presented itself as a great opportunity for me to step into more of a different role, maybe not getting the ball as much and having my teammates freed up on the other of the half,” Noah said earlier this week.
One of those beneficiaries has been Judah, who has a pair of both goals and assists on the year.
“The family aspect of it really adds to it when we play together,” Judah Gray said. “We have a lot of chemistry on the field and just know what the other is going to do without saying much.”
The Gray soccer family extends beyond just Noah and Judah. They have two younger sisters who play at Delaware County Christian (Evie and Addy) and their dad, Bill, who coached them in their rec soccer days, is a soccer referee.
“We played a couple other sports growing up but none of us loved them as much as soccer,” Judah said. “We tried basketball and I think Noah tried T-Ball but soccer’s just in our DNA.”
English Premier League games are a common staple at home as well, but unlike the red and white they wear together on the field they wear different color jerseys when they’re not in Philadelphia fan mode.
“I’m a Tottenham fan, Noah is a United fan and our dad he’s City,” Judah said.
Outside of their time at Grove City – where they are both studying engineering – the two Penn Fusion Academy alums have spent time when back home with West Chester United playing for Blaise Santangelo. Last summer, Noah Gray played for Steel City FC in USL League Two while interning in the Pittsburgh area while Judah played for the West Chester United’s NPSL team. This past summer, Judah interned with the Delaware Valley Eagles, a local Christian soccer ministry, helping to run camps for kids and other programs.
“It was a cool opportunity just to be a mentor and work with younger players,” Judah said of his summer experience interning for the Eagles and training and playing with West Chester. “And to combine my love for soccer with my love for Jesus.”
The faith component has been a binding agent for both Judah and Noah, playing both at a Christian high school and a Christian college and, according to Noah and Juday, has been a key ingredient in strengthening the bond within the team as they head into the conference tournament looking to repeat and return to the NCAA tournament, something they accomplished as a program for just the second time.
A common foe awaits tonight in Franciscan in the Presidents’ Athletic Conference semifinal, which kicks off at 8 p.m.
“As much as winning a championship and making a run in the NCAA tournament would be an amazing end to my career my main focus is just enjoying these last couple days with my best friends and teammates, with my brother Judah, and playing the game I love,” Noah said.
Whenever Noah does step onto the field for the last time, it won’t be his last time with a close tie to Grove City soccer. Next fall, younger sister Evie Gray – who helped lead her DC Knights team to a District 1 Class A championship last night – will join Judah at Grove City.
