Coffee and Questions with Austin Lukasik

How do you feel about being back this year?

It was difficult the first year, not knowing what to expect and different situations in terms of how I was living and playing ability. I was excited for what it could hold, especially knowing guys from the past as well that were coming back. Being familiar with the situation, the environment. It's much more comfortable.

You joined the team thru tryouts, correct?

Yes, I had no idea what USL2 was. I didn't know about the pyramid or how anything worked. I did a bit of research and I left school early to try out. It's all really been from the ground up. It’s different coming from a D-3 school and not having a ton of connections to be able to get my foot in the door, especially a team with the infrastructure that The Villages has. I thought it would be a stretch, but I wanted to see what would happen. If you don't try, you won't succeed. I've been blessed that coaches kept inviting me back ever since.

You are one of those players that comes in the same way, no matter how many playing minutes you get.

Whether I'm going to get 30 minutes or 3 minutes I need to make the most of that because as coach says all the time, he doesn't make the decision about who plays, we do. We make the decision for him at practice and games as well.

I remember in my first season I would get 2-3 minutes. Coach made some comments, so I knew that in those few minutes if I made the right decision I would get more opportunities. In my first year, I had an open goal in a game, at 2 minutes during extra time. I could have tried to score, but we were winning so I thought that if I tried to score and miss, they could counterattack. So I worked the clock, basically. Coach appreciated that. From there I was like, okay, he notices and respects the time you come in and might grant you more minutes.

Tell us about some of the difficulties in your first year.

It was really difficult. I didn’t know what my position would be and the house was already full. I was living in an RV for a while, and then in a motel with another friend of mine. We didn't have money. We would try to make $2 to $3 meals from Wal-Mart in the sink of the bedroom. It wasn't the best environment, it wasn't the safest place. Police were called in all the time. All I wanted to do was go live in the player’s house and keep playing. We would talk about how we would look back at this and it would be worth it.

The sacrifices of my parents and I have made. Now the staff at the house are like my parents when I’m here. They are the best. It feels, feels really good. Sometimes I have to look back. There are up and down moments. There are lows when I’m not playing as I want, or I'm not getting as many minutes but then thinking back that I'd give anything to be in the position that I'm currently in. It just humbles you a bit and just makes you reflect and get out of that funk.

How was that moment you were selected as Man of the Match? It was good. I feel like I'm the type of player that is not going to really have those Man of the Match performances because I do a lot of the dirty work. So I wasn't expecting it at all. I don't do it for recognition. I do it for the team. We have a lot of great players and I pride myself on working really hard, so it felt good to be recognized for sure.

How do you think you did in that game?

I thought I played well. In the first half, I thought I played a bit better than the second. I just kept wanting to score and be involved offensively. I probably should've just stayed back and held on to the lead. I did well defensively, nothing was coming down my side. I felt good at the end and I knew my dad would text me to say I had a good game because if I don't, he would just be honest with me. I thought I played well but Man of the Match didn’t cross my mind.

What do you think about the season overall?

We've been grinding it out. I think it's been a character-building season for sure. We haven’t been at the lead in the table even though we've been the better team. I like chasing, I mean, obviously, it's better to be in the lead, but, just playing every game like a final adds something extra to the implications.

How do you feel about this team going into the next phase of playoffs?

There have been games we've played much better and prettier but ultimately these last five or six games, where we haven't lost, we're grinding it out. We're getting the results. And so I think we're hitting stride at a perfect time to go into playoffs. All these teams that we're going to play have known they've been going to pass for a while. They haven't had to play every game like a final. So we've already we've been in playoffs for a month. So I think it's it's going to reflect in the performances and the results also.