Plum grad Luke Gildea heads into final season with Slippery Rock men's soccer hoping to lead The Rock to postseason

Luke Gildea has to laugh. He has no choice. Even he admits the nickname he received from his Slippery Rock men’s soccer teammates, Gramps, is fitting.

The Plum grad is the oldest player on the team, the last of his class who came in during the covid year (2020-21). At 5-foot-7 and 145 pounds, he has an almost frail-looking stature. He has full facial hair. As for the other hair on his head, it is thinning, which he neither denies nor tries to hide.

Gramps, it is.

Gildea, to be sure, doesn’t cut the most impressive figure on a soccer pitch. He said he is certain his larger opponents in the PSAC have a good chuckle under their breath at his expense.

Until he starts to play, showing off skills and a bulldog tenacity that belie his appearance.

“The kid’s a grinder,” seventh-year coach Kevin Wilhelm said. “If you watch him play, even if he has a head cold, a sore throat and a sprained ankle, you’re going to get 100% of what that kid has on that given day, no questions asked.

“Is he the most talented guy on the squad? No. Is he the most athletic guy on the squad? Absolutely not. The kid’s like 5-5 or 5-6, but his heart is probably that of 6-8, 225 (pounds).”

Said Gildea: “I was never the biggest. I never will be the biggest. … It’s all about grit for me. I grew up in the WPIAL. The WPIAL is very physical. If your body isn’t against another body, you’re on the ground.

“No matter how hard the challenge is, I’m going to do it. No matter how big the (other) kid is, I’m going to go and challenge.”

Early in his career at Slippery Rock, however, his biggest challenge wasn’t anything or anyone external.

During his second year in 2021 — technically his first after covid canceled what would have been his freshman season — Gildea worked his way into The Rock’s lineup immediately. Wilhelm said he could see that Gildea was fitting in more quickly and performing at a higher level than most freshmen.

Gildea started seven of The Rock’s first eight matches that season, but just as he was hitting his stride, a torn ACL stopped him in his tracks. He missed the rest of that season and didn’t return until a couple of weeks into the 2022 season.

“Before my ACL, I think I was playing some of the best soccer I have ever played,” he said.

The healing and rehab process took nine months, and even once he got back to playing — he missed the first three matches of 2022 — he said he never felt like himself until very late in the season. Even then, he played only an average of 43 minutes per match, playing more than 65 minutes only twice all season.

But with a healthy offseason after that, Gildea came back in 2023 and produced his best effort yet, posting two goals and four assists from his midfield spot while playing more than 1,300 minutes. All of those totals were more than his first two seasons combined.

Eleven times he played at least 80 minutes, and he was one of only five SRU players to start all 17 matches.

Wilhelm said he again can see the player who was showing such promise two years prior.

“I think he’s starting at his highest point right now compared to where he started as a freshman,” Wilhelm said. “His timing and his recognition of his movements is a lot better than when he was a freshman.”

Gildea said he had a busy summer with his job — he worked at a summer camp at Sampson YMCA in Plum — but he still found plenty of time to train as he ramps up toward his final season of eligibility.

“Gramps,” who again will serve as a captain, will be expected to lead the team in action and word. Not that this group should need a lot of coaxing.

Slippery Rock was poised to make the PSAC Tournament last fall until it lost its final three games to finish 4-6 in the West (5-8-4 overall). The last of those was a 4-2 defeat at Seton Hill in a win-and-in match.

The Rock had beaten the Griffins, 3-1, less than three weeks prior, and the sting of the rematch’s ending has served as motivation. Though Gildea said he and his teammates don’t talk about that loss much, it lingers in their subconscious.

What they do talk about, he said, is that first meeting with Seton Hill. That enthusiasm is what Gildea hopes to see throughout the 2024 season.

“The energy going into that game, in the locker room beforehand, during warmups … everything was different,” he said. “Different in a good way. It felt awesome. … That first (Seton Hill) game is the game we always go back to whenever we’re in a bad time.”

Gildea and his teammates are intent on making the PSAC playoffs and, ultimately, the NCAA Tournament. Nine of the 11 players who started the 2023 finale return, including the top two goal-scorers, junior Aitor Jorde (10) and senior Arturo Pla Hernandis (9).

“That’s our goal every year,” Gildea said. “And with this group of guys that we have … the roof is very high.”

Gildea said he always has tried to play to his strengths and stay within himself. He said he believes the same must be true for the team if it is to reach the postseason.

“All playing as one, as a family,” is the way he described it. Nothing less should be expected from their Gramps.

“Getting to that point and understanding our identity and playing to our strength and playing to our identity is what’s really going to bring us success on the field,” he said. “I have high expectations for the guys and myself.

“If you play to your strengths and know your body and know your skill, it will all work out in the long run.”