When Iona College men’s soccer Head Coach James Hamilton submitted his Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference preseason rankings, he placed the Gaels at third.  The rest of the league, however, voted Iona to finish eighth.

Hamilton nearly predicted the team’s  season, as the Gaels earned the fourth seed spot in the MAAC. That said, while they had a very successful season overall, the team lost in the first round of conference play to Rider University on Nov. 4.

“Obviously everyone is disappointed to be out in the first round, especially when we felt like the better team in that first half,” Hamilton said. “We don’t have a trophy in the cabinet, but I think there’s a lot of satisfaction about how we played. Achieving 10 wins in any conference is a good achievement.”

Senior forward Killian Colombie also felt Iona was better than a first- round team.

“I’m not content with our finish, because I know we could have done better,”: Colombie said. “We’re a competitive team.”  

Despite getting bounced out of the playoffs, Iona had four players receive all-conference honors. Colombie (First Team All-MAAC), freshman Mauro Bravo (MAAC Rookie of the Year and Second Team All-MAAC), junior Malcolm Moreno and senior Humbert Ferrer (Second Team All-MAAC) received recognition for their play this season.

Colombie, who was one of the Gaels’ most consistent players, will be busy in the upcoming weeks trying to make his professional dream come true.

Colombie will attend MLS team combines with the New York Red Bulls and the San Jose Earthquake in December. He will also participate in a Midwest Pro Combine in Michigan, and could even make an appearance at the MLS Combine in January. Colombie has plans to travel to Scotland over the winter to train with the Heart of Midlothian team.  

“You look at Killian, and you see a professional athlete,” Hamilton said. “Technically he’s got all the tools, and he’s greatly improved the mental side of his game. For me, ability aside, he’s absolutely driven to what he wants to achieve, and you better get out of the way when he’s coming.”

Colombie began this year playing in United Soccer League (USL) League Two, also called the Premier Development League (PDL), with the AHFC Royals, based in Houston.

Colombie scored 10 goals and five assists in 13 games, and went to train with the Houston Dynamo for two weeks after the PDL season. Killian then came back to Iona and tallied seven goals and three assists for the Gaels.  

“When I came here in 2015, I said to myself, ‘I’m going to get to the MLS somehow,’” Colombie said. “I don’t know how yet, but I’ll be there eventually. I just had a plan, and I stuck to it, and now everything seems to fall into place.”

Colombie hopes to hear his name called during the MLS draft,  but he will also consider playing in Europe if he has the chance.

“To go to the MLS draft is prestigious and it gives you much exposure,” Colombie said. “It seems best to go the MLS path first. In the future, I would love to play in Europe of course. But if the door is open now and I have the chance to play in a competitive European league, obviously I will go for it.”