Club soccer senior goalie Charlie Cooper didn’t have shin guards 45 minutes before his first game of the season. He did, however, have an empty 30-rack of Busch Light.

So Cooper made his debut in net with cardboard shin guards that read “Born of Natural Ingredients” under his socks.

The senior from Southborough, Mass., hasn’t played organized soccer since he was in fifth grade. At Ithaca, he played a year of junior varsity basketball and then a year of varsity basketball before playing goalie on the runner-up outdoor soccer intramural and champion indoor soccer intramural teams last year.

This year he decided he’d give it a shot at the next level.

“It was kind of on a whim,” Cooper said. “This was the last time in my life I’d be able to play above the intramural level.”

What followed has been nothing short of a fairy tale straight out of a Mad Lib.

The Charlie Cooper story began when he showed up to tryouts puffing on a Marlboro Light, the first inclination that he might not be your average soccer player.

Despite his limited soccer experience — senior Tom Gordon described Cooper’s soccer IQ as “novice at best”— Cooper’s athleticism and solid instincts were good enough at tryouts to earn a spot as the team’s second goalie.

Since then he’s dazzled teammates with his unique brand of living. Aside from the Busch Light shin guards, he still doesn’t own soccer cleats. Instead, he rocks football cleats that date back to high school when he played lacrosse.

Uniform choices are just the tip of the iceberg. Despite his perfect attendance at practices, come Saturday morning game days Gordon says he usually calls around to make sure Cooper is a) alive and b) going to play.

Cooper missed the team’s first game because he lost two debit cards and his car keys at a bar the night before. Last Saturday he was MIA again, though no one’s quite sure what happened.

“Sometimes I have stuff to do really late at night,” Cooper said. “You know what I mean.”

Junior Jay Woodworth is new to club soccer this year, after spending two years on the varsity team. He’s enjoying the Charlie Cooper experience like everyone else.  

“Playing varsity, you play with guys who know the game,” he said. “With Charlie, it’s just pure athleticism when he makes plays.”

And so what if he dresses like he couldn’t make the Big Green’s B squad. He’s just a fun guy to have around and that’s a big part of what club sports are all about.   

“He’s great,” Woodworth said. “He always keeps it lighthearted in practice and games.”