Manhattan College men’s soccer player Gunnar Studenhofft represented his home country, the
Cayman Islands, against Puerto Rico in March. @JASPERSSOCCER/COURTESY
By Maddie Mulkigian, Senior Writer
Manhattan College men’s soccer player Gunnar Studenhofft represented his home country, the Cayman Islands, on March 27 versus Puerto Rico. While the Cayman Islands lost the match 5-1, Studenhofft scored the singular goal for his country. The loss was not the result of the proud Studenhofft, but he is one of the few Jaspers who has had the opportunity to represent their home countries.
“It was a great experience, you know, being able to join my team to be able to bond with them, even play at a good level and be able to compete against a good country like Puerto Rico, it was a good experience,” forward Gunnar Studenhofft said.
While Studenhofft humbly reflected on his time representing the Cayman Islands, his coaches did not hide their excitement for his success when speaking to the Quadrangle.
“He knows how much I care about his future. And I think that he has more games with the Cayman Islands in his life,” Head Coach Jorden Scott said. “I think that he will represent himself and his family and his school at a higher level once he graduates. He wants to win, he wants to score goals and he wants to achieve his dream of being a professional player.”
Studenhofft’s goal came in the 85th minute of the game to prevent the Cayman Islands from losing in a shutout. Despite the loss, Studenhofft proved that the Cayman Islands has the youth, talent and potential to compete with high-level international teams.
“I think I know immediately after the game, he had an amazing set of disappointment, because he’s a competitor and he wants to win the game,” Scott said. “But I think that when a couple of days that the dust had settled, I think he realized, I would say that what everyone else was thinking, which was how proud you should feel about representing our college on an international level is fantastic.”
While his time in the Cayman Islands jersey was short-lived, the training and experience at an international level is continuing to impact Studenhofft’s training back with the Jaspers. Not only is the international training changing the way Studenhofft performs, but it is also changing the intensity and level of training with the rest of his teammates at Manhattan.
“The level of talent that we have now just speaks to the player that Gunnar is and we have a bunch of them in the team as well. And that standard is something that we’re trying to continue for years to come,” Coach Andrew Santos said. “I mean, it’s great to have all this talent and we love that we have a team that’s going to be together for these three years last fall and two more, but we’re already thinking of how much greater we can get with the current group and how much greater we can become in the future.”
By playing at the international level, Studenhofft’s talent and experience are setting the standard for both himself and Manhattan’s men’s soccer program. There are very few Jaspers who have the opportunity to represent, play and score for their country, but Studenhofft is proving that it can be done.
“It’s not just a reflection of who he is. No, it’s a reflection of how successful he’s been on his journey,” Scott said. “And he’s only going to get better if he maintains his mindset of development and improvement every day, which he does. So we’re proud of him and we look forward to seeing him score more goals for his country.”
Studenhofft is further proving that he is going to continue to be a force in the MAAC. Not only will he remain a top player to be scouted by any opponent, but he is creating a name and reputation for the Manhattan College Jaspers men’s soccer program. This is only the beginning of Studenhofft’s international career and he is going to continue to be an impactful player on a global scale.