By: Leah Fitzpatrick, UCI Athletics Media Relations
Paul Jing started off the 2023-24 academic year as a student at UC Irvine, playing for the intramural soccer team. In November of 2024, he has three shutouts and a Big West Defensive Player of the Week honor under his belt. The improbable underdog story has been a wild ride for the keeper, and it has only just begun.
Paul began looking for a spot on a team after playing two years at community colleges, setting his sights on different clubs and NCAA Division III schools around the country. It was then that Paul decided to scroll through the UCI men’s soccer team’s roster and discovered that there were only two keepers listed, Luke Pruter and Alex Shields. Even though soccer season was already in full swing, Paul asked his mom if he should take a chance and send the coach an email. With his mom’s encouragement, Paul sent the email around 5 p.m. on September 2nd. To his surprise, he got a response within two hours from Coach Yossi Raz, asking Paul to call him when he was available. When he spoke to Coach Raz, he informed him of the keeper situation, and Paul committed to the team that same night.
Paul ran up the stairs in disbelief to tell his parents that he was going to be a D1 keeper for his school. They were extremely excited and proud of their son, and his mom even wanted to take credit for encouraging him to send the email. They knew this was a big deal for him, and a step in the right direction for his future aspirations of professional soccer.
In the following days, Paul filled out all his forms, completed his physical, and within the same week he traveled with the team to Florida after only one practice. Although he didn’t expect to play, he was excited to learn since he had never played at such a high level before.
It was only a few weeks after Paul joined the team that the ‘Eaters number two goalie, Alex Shields, tore his meniscus during a match. With their number one keeper, Luke Pruter, also being unable to play due to injury, Paul knew that it would be up to him.
It had been almost two years since he had played in a competitive game and Paul was nervous, but he was prepared.
“Yossi told me, you have to be mentally ready,” Paul recalled. “I did have some self-doubt before the game because I’ve never played such a high level game.”
Although he had never played a Division I match, for the year and a half prior, he had been training non-stop. He put in a lot of work with good coaches and good people, and it was all about to pay off.
“I was thinking finally this moment came, and I just didn’t want to put too much pressure on myself,” Paul remembers.
He told himself to keep it simple and to play like he knew how. He knew it was an important match, but he was just so appreciative to start in a D1 game that he told himself to go out there, have fun, and enjoy the moment.
Not only did Paul embrace the moment, but he also secured a shutout with two saves in his first career start against San Diego State. It was his first clean sheet, and it was also the ‘Eaters first of the season. When he woke up the next morning, his phone was filled with messages from his friends, old teammates, and old coaches congratulating him.
“No one thought I would start a D1 game for a really good program and keep a shutout,” Paul said. “It’s lucky, but I was prepared. That’s why I got lucky.”
