After moving from Washington state in 2014, he helped Oliver Ames with the 2015 Division 2 state title, and the senior captain emerged as a top player for Stonehill.
EASTON – He moved to the opposite side of the country in the summer of 2014, leaving the state of Washington for Massachusetts.
Keegan Nutt was entering his junior year of high school when the transition was made, and new friends had to be made in a completely different part of the country.
As he started to settle in to Oliver Ames High School in his new hometown of Easton, Nutt was able to get comfortable in part by being a member of the Tigers' successful boys soccer team.
He was a member of the '14 squad that lost to Concord-Carlisle, 1-0, in the Division 2 state championship game, then scored 12 goals with nine assists in 2015 when Oliver Ames won its first state title with a 3-1 victory over Masconomet.
Nutt |
"That was crazy,″ said the former Enterprise All-Scholastic of winning a state championship and going 18-0-3. "I've never had an undefeated season with a great group of guys. You dream about it as a kid and it actually happened. I'll never forget it. After we lost to Concord-Carlisle the year before, we said, 'We're not doing that ever again.' ″
That, however, was not the end of Nutt's connection with soccer in Easton.
In the fall semester of 2016, Nutt made the short trip to Stonehill College where he is a business management major and has been a four-year starter on the Skyhawks' men's soccer team.
The senior captain has appeared in all 56 games in his career, making 53 starts, since arriving at Stonehill and he earned a spot on the All-Northeast-10 Conference third team last season.
"I fell in love with the town,″ he said.
Nutt moved to Easton with his mother, Amy Nutt, who grew up in Hingham and has sisters living in Norton. One of his first trips to the Stonehill campus came not long after he arrived in Massachusetts.
"My grandfather (John Gallivan) went to Stonehill and he passed a few years ago,″ said Nutt. "We spread his ashes in the pond. It was my junior year at Oliver Ames. That was the only time I had been to Stonehill and I really fell in love with this campus.″
Nutt later attended a soccer clinic at the college and when it came time to pick a school, Stonehill was the front runner.
"I'm very happy here,″ he said. "The school is great. The academics are great. I'm just glad I'm here.″
Nutt started all 17 games as a freshman, getting a goal and two assists, then started 15 games and came off the bench in three others as a sophomore when he had a goal and an assists. Last season, Nutt was moved from the midfield to a back position, and he was the Skyhawks' top scorer with five goals and 11 points.
This season, Nutt has a team-best three goals for Stonehill, which is 2-3.
"If you start all 17 games in the midfield as a freshman, you have to be a special player to do that in this league,″ said Skyhawks coach Jim Reddish. "He's been an impact player. He's a big part of our team in what we're doing with the ball and just his energy. He's such a positive influence, a high energy guy. He loves his teammates and loves the school. He's very passionate.
"Since he's come here, he's done whatever we've asked. He's played positions that are not his natural position. We moved him to an attacking back last year because of his skill set and what we wanted to do attacking out of that position with a great left foot and a great soccer mind.″
Nutt, who played two years of soccer in Washington at Bellingham High School, located between Vancouver and Seattle, said there is a noticeable difference in his game since he's been in Massachusetts.
"I've grown a lot. I'm stronger and faster. I've become more physical as a player,″ he said. "I came here and I didn't think I'd play every game as much as I did (as a freshman). The NE-10 is a really competitive league. I didn't know what was going to be expected. It was unexpected to play that much.″
Nutt, whose father, Richard, played soccer while living in England, is pleased that he's been able to be in the lineup for every game of his career, missing only three starts along the way.
"I take a lot of pride in that,″ said Nutt. "I look up to a former player here, Patrick Doherty. He played every minute of every game in four years and I was like, I just want to play as much as I can and be a guy who plays a lot in his career and really works hard for the program, being good on and off the field.″
After graduating next spring, Nutt would like to keep playing soccer or get involved in coaching.
"I'd like to play somewhere,″ said Nutt, who studied in Madrid during the spring semester this year. "I played for the Rhode Island Reds last summer and I'd love to advance to a Boston team or a USL team. If that doesn't pan out, I'll go into business.″
Jim Fenton may be reached at jfenton@enterprisenews.com. Follow him on Twitter at @JFenton_ent.
