Perrysburg senior goalkeeper Isaac Revill. (Russ Jeansonne)
PERRYSBURG — At 5-foot-8, Perrysburg boys soccer senior goalkeeper Isaac Revill may not be getting all the collegiate looks he deserves, but you don’t have to look far to find someone else who is undersized but excelling at the college level.
Bowling Green State University standout senior goalkeeper Brendan Graves may be 6-foot tall, 175-pounds, but is still considered undersized by some college soccer experts. Plus, Graves is also a Perrysburg graduate.
“I’ve met him a few times, talked to him a few times,” Revill said. “I sat on the game at BG versus Michigan and he played phenomenal (1-0 BGSU win), and he’s not the tallest guy out there.
“He’s definitely a role model for me. I look up to him and he’s a good guy off the field,” Revill said.
Revill, who led Perrysburg to a Northern Lakes League Buckeye Division championship his senior year, first met Graves on campus.
“I went to a camp at BG, and he was the guy that was coaching the goalies and he gave me a few tips and talked about how he went to Perrysburg,” Revill said.
“He’s a cool guy, he really helps you out. He gave me a few tips about positioning in net and you just know his knowledge about the game is so strong. Just to be able to have a person to talk to about that is great.”
His senior year, Revill led Perrysburg to a 16-2-2 season which ended in a 1-0 Division I district final loss to Toledo St. Francis.
In the loss to the Knights, Revill’s treammate, Alex Diaz, the NLL and Northwest District Player of the Year who is Perrysburg’s all-time leading career scorer, was injured early and did not return. Ultimately, the Yellow Jackets were unable to score.
Despite the misfortunate, Revill believes his team had one of the best offensive and defensive units in Ohio. Perrysburg outscored opponents 67-13 as Diaz finished with 50 points on 22 goals and six assists.
“I believe we have the No. 1 defense in the state. I think we have the ability to score goals — the offense is great, and the coaches are phenomenal,” Revill said.
Revill will continue playing soccer with the Pacesetter Soccer Club this winter and spring hoping to get some more colleigate looks, but coach Dennis Jeansonne says Ohio Northern University, among others, are already in the conversation. Jeansonne believes Revill will play somewhere.
Every year at Perrysburg Revill improved on his previous mark, starting in goal three years, culminating with an .055 goals against average his senior year with 10 shutouts. Revill was a first team All-NLL Buckeye Division goalkeeper and second team All-Northwest District.
In 20 games, he allowed just 11 goals while garnering 94 saves, many of which Jeansonne calls “highlight reel saves.” His goals against average has been cut in half twice since he began his prep career.
As a junior, he allowed 16 goals in 18 games (0.89 GAA) with 87 saves and six shutouts, and as a sophomore, he allowed 36 goals in 19 games (1.89 GAA) with three shutouts and 161 saves. For his career, he has allowed 63 goals in 57 games (1.11 GAA) with 342 saves and 19 shutouts.
“This incredible journey and improvement over the years for Isaac shows how he has matured and focused on himself,” Jeansonne said. “(It is) his offseason work, his study of the game, and his tireless effort to improve.”
“His study of the game” has been going on for years and it started where it ended, playing for Jeansonne.
“My coach Dennis has been my coach for a long time, since I was like U8, and I started out as a defender, a left back or a right back, and I played two years as that, and then I started getting into the net and from there I loved it,” Revill said.
Revill said there have been many coaches along the way, at both the club level and interscholastic level who have helped him improve his game. But it’s his own work and time that have helped the most.
“It just takes the love of the position and doing stuff on your own,” Revill said. “So, my youth club (PSC) there was a goalie coach who I went to every Tuesday and then for Pacesetter.
“Every Thursday we had goalie training and doing stuff on your own as well just coming out to the field, and also just having fun with the boys on the weekend coming out to take some shots,” Revill continued.
Why then, even though standing just 5-8, has Revill had the success he has had? Because he has mastered the position and learned to accept the good and the bad that can happen in any game.
“I think probably one of the most important (attributes) is quick reactions, being able to read the play, just having experience knowing where that striker usually goes and stuff,” Revill said.
“It is a mental game for sure. You can’t let a goal that gets by you set you down for the rest of the game. Everything is mental, everything is important and you have to stay strong mentally.”
Revill, who has a 4.1 GPA and plans to study engineering, says if someone gives him the opportunity to play collegiate soccer, he’ll make the best of it despite his height.
“I think that is an important factor — the first look, they size you up, but once I get in there I can show them what I’ve got and I think I have the attributes set to overcome the height,” Revill said.
