Jason Beaulieu just wanted to win.
That, according to the Lobos’ senior goalkeeper and soon-to-be Fall 2017 graduate, is the main reason he decided to come to New Mexico.
“Really it’s because they made it to the final four the year I was recruited, and I wanted the best soccer school I could find,” Beaulieu said. “It was hard to find better than that. I didn’t know much about the NCAA and the powerhouses and the good programs. I didn’t know much. Just the fact that they made it far, and they have such good players that made it pro every year, so I decided to come to the best program.”
Beaulieu made an immediate impact on the program and began starting right away — he appeared in 11 games his freshman year. However, despite the early playing time, the transition to college and living in the United States was not easy for the Quebec native.
“It was hard at first,” Beaulieu said. “The first six months were pretty hard. I was missing home and wanting to go back and not being comfortable here, because it was my first time not living with my parents, on my own. But it was good to live on campus. I met a lot of people and had a lot of good experiences there. It was really great to do that.”
Beaulieu also said going home isn’t always what your mind makes it out to be — as soon as he reached his sophomore year, he was feeling at home in Albuquerque. It was also the year that he became the Lobos’ full-time keeper, and he posted his highest-ever save percentage, coming in at .806 percent. The highlight of his career came in his junior season, when the Lobos hosted an NCAA Tournament game at home in front of 5,000 fans.
In addition to his athletic achievements, Beaulieu has excelled in the classroom during his time at UNM. Following his junior year, he earned spots on the CoSIDA Academic All-District First Team, the InTouch Credit Union C-USA All-Academic Team and the C-USA Commissioner’s Honor Roll in addition to receiving the 2017 C-USA Commissioner’s Academic Medal. A civil engineering major, Beaulieu says that he has received multiple job offers in the field post-graduation, but that’s not what he’s hoping to do next.
“Yeah, I would like to have the chance to play after, for that we need to go far with the team, and I need to have good stats for the rest of the season. I still have contacts with Montreal (Impact),” Beaulieu said. “I think I have good chances, but it’s on me now. That’s what I would like to do.”
When asked to look back on his time at UNM, Beaulieu said he is happy with his decision.
“I really enjoyed being here, and it was a really good decision to come here. It really opened me (up) to a brand new part of the world that I probably would have never visited if I didn’t come here to do school, and the Southwest was never really something I appreciated before, in all the cowboy movies and stuff,” Beaulieu said.
In addition to his work on the field and in the classroom, Beaulieu also made his impact in the community. Through the Lobos’ annual summer camps, he made a connection with John Vargas, an under-11 coach for an AYSO United boys’ team called the Wolves.
AYSO is a national network of club youth soccer teams that carries a large presence in New Mexico. AYSO players have the opportunity to play in tournaments in New Mexico and throughout the country in addition to their games in the Duke City Soccer League.
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From their interactions at these camps, the two formed a friendship. Around the same time, Vargas was tasked with helping to start the new U-11 team for AYSO, and he enlisted the help of Lobos coach Jeremy Fishbein. Taking Fishbein’s advice to build the team from the back to heart, Vargas asked Beaulieu to come and run a goalkeeper clinic for his team.
Beaulieu agreed and came to impart his wisdom on the young keepers. They ran drills, both where the boys attempted to score on Beaulieu, to see how he played, as well as drills where they put their new skills between the posts to the test against him. Vargas says that this has resulted in his team having three of the best keepers in their league, and as a result, the Wolves were undefeated at the time of the interview. Vargas keeps both Beaulieu and Fishbein updated on the team and sent both men copies of the team photo.
In his time at UNM, Jason Beaulieu has made an impact in a variety of ways. Now, the New Mexico chapter of his life has its conclusion, but the impact that he made during his time as a Lobo will not soon be forgotten, and it won’t be the end of his story in soccer. The next chapter is still waiting to be written, and that begins now.
Cameron Goeldner is a freelance sports reporter and photographer for the Daily Lobo. He primarily covers men’s soccer, but also contributes content for baseball, basketball, football and track and field. He can be contacted at sports@dailylobo.com or on Twitter @goeldfinger.
