Kyle Zobeck

Classroom

Zobeck maintains a 3.969 cumulative grade point average as a mechanical engineering major, minoring in mathematics.  He was named Third Team Scholar All-American by the NSCAA last year, one of just 35 D-I players honored nationally.  A two-time member of the Horizon League All-Academic Team, he has earned league Academic Honor Roll honors each semester eligible, as well as receiving Valpo Presidential academic honors.  He also was named the league’s Scholar-Athlete of the Month in September of 2011.  Last month, Zobeck was recognized by Tau Beta Pi (the national engineering honor society) as a Tau Beta Pi Laureate, one of just 83 TBP Laureates in the last 30 years.

Character

Zobeck is a two-year captain for the Crusaders who goes the extra step off the field, coming in for individual meetings throughout the week to watch film and make himself a better player.  He also serves as an important liaison between the team’s coaching staff and the players.  He also goes above and beyond outside the classroom in the academic realm as well, running mechanical engineering study sessions for freshman and sophomore engineering students.  He also has been an active member of the Indiana Delta chapter of Tau Beta Pi, helping to organize their “Tired Engineer’s Day Banquet” and working with professors to schedule review sessions for exams.

Community

Zobeck has taken time to give back to the community in a multitude of ways during his collegiate years, both on and off the soccer field.  He has served as a volunteer at numerous soccer camps, including taking the lead as the goalkeeper coach for players ages 6-13 at Valparaiso University’s soccer camps.  He also has worked soccer camps at the Valparaiso Boys and Girls Club, Des Moines Menace Soccer Club, Duke University and the Valparaiso Nazarene Church, as well as organizing and coaching a one-day soccer clinic at VU as part of the College Mentors for Kids program.  He has volunteered at the Grant Wood Area Educational Agency, packaging and delivering science kits for local schools, and has been a part of Relay for Life events on the VU campus.  In addition, he has helped with the Crusader team’s community service efforts, which include raising money for the St. Baldrick’s Foundation (which funds research for cures for childhood cancer) and raising money and collecting athletic equipment for They Often Cry Outreach (a St. Lucia children’s charity).

Competition

Zobeck has been named the Horizon League Goalkeeper of the Year each of the last two seasons, including a 2011 campaign when he was starting goalkeeper for the Horizon League regular season champion Crusaders, playing every second in goal and setting new program single-season records for shutouts (11) and GAA (0.66), the latter ranking 12th nationally.  He was also named First Team All League and Third Team All-Region.  This season, he ranks among the top-30 in the nation and paces the Horizon League with a 0.80 GAA, and has also
posted five shutouts.  He enters the Horizon League Championship as Valpo’s all-time leader in shutouts (23) and GAA (0.92) and has been a
part of four of the top five defensive seasons in program history.  Zobeck has spent the last two summers playing for the Carolina Railhawks U-23 team which has won back-to-back USASA National Cup
Region III titles and captured the national championship in 2011.