Junior Fernando Casanova’s soccer career began one fateful day in the Santo Domingo Airport when he was just 11 years old. Casanova, who is an avid golfer and former member of the Dominican National team,  was on his way to participate in the Junior Golf World Championships in Trinidad and Tobago when he misplaced his passport.

“I was stuck in the airport watching the whole golf team go out to get to go play,” Casanova said. “It was a heartbreaker for me. The next day, a friend of mine from middle school was trying to cheer me up. He was like, ‘Come play soccer with us tomorrow.’ So I went with them and haven’t stopped playing soccer since then.”

The following year, he joined a club soccer team and continued playing throughout high school. His college career began in the Dominican Republic, but he said he felt he wasn’t being challenged academically after his first year.

“I was like, ‘If I want to make something out of myself, I gotta come to the States,’” he said.

He transferred to Tompkins County Community College and played soccer for two years before transferring to Ithaca College last spring.

In his first year with the Bombers, he has developed into an offensive leader with five goals and two assists on the season. Head Coach Andy Byrne said Casanova’s success stems from his ability to make plays.

“He’s definitely got a Latin style where he holds the ball,” Byrne said. “He’s got a little bit of flare. He can hold the ball against just about anybody we play.”

On the field, Casanova uses his speed and agility to dribble around defenders to create scoring opportunities. But Byrne said there’s more to his game than that.

“It’s not just his ability to put the ball in [the goal], but to hold the ball, set people up, to create scoring chances … in tough games where we’re certainly reliant on him,” Byrne said.

Casanova set a Bomber record against Utica College on Oct. 17, scoring two goals within 20 seconds of each other to win the match — a game the Bombers needed to win to stay in contention for the fourth and final spot in the Empire 8 Championship tournament.

After the game, Casanova was named the Empire 8 Offensive Player of the Week, an honor he said he will cherish for a long time.

“I was so happy,” he said. “I was so delighted. Randomly I just went to the Empire 8 Web site, and I saw my picture there and was like, ‘Whoa.’ It was a great satisfaction. You give all you have every Saturday in the games and to get awarded for it and recognized is a great feeling.”

Junior forward Mike Shirley, who transferred to the college last spring with Casanova, said Casanova’s ability to make something out of nothing has helped the team.

“His determination, his creativity [and] his raw ability is one of the most impressive things,” Shirley said.

Casanova said he doesn’t take his role as the team’s leader for granted.

“Just like I was that man in the [Utica] game,” he said. “I want to be that man in the next three games and get our team to the conference championship.”

Box Score - Brockport vs Ithaca (10/27/09 at Ithaca, N.Y.)