Meet Nick

I was sitting on the grassy knoll above Drolinger parking lot at the LMU campus, on a Saturday afternoon, for two reasons: one, there was an LMU lacrosse game against my hometown college U of A, and two, because one of my best friends is on the LMU LAX team and asked me to come out and support him.

It was unusually windy on top of the parking structure, which was deceiving because of the extreme LA sunshine that day. My hair was blowing in every direction, and my Calvin Klein wide rimmed sunglasses, that cover half my face, still weren’t large enough to shield my face from the sharp rays.

‘I am not dressed for this type of bipolar weather,’ I thought, as I walked up to my friend, Hayden Fullstone, (#8) to congratulate him on the win; LMU killing U of A 13 to 6.

Next to Hayden, stood #31. Standing at 6’2”, the tall, 22 year-old lacrosse player is muscular, tanned and has long wavy brown hair that resembles that of a surf bum. I soon learn that his personality is just as laid back as his hairstyle.

His name is Nick Roessler and he’s been playing on the LMU LAX team since he transferred from University of Colorado at Boulder, his second semester sophomore year.

Playing as a defender on the LMU team Nick enjoys “whacking the shit out of people” and “taking his aggression out on the field.”

He began playing lacrosse as a freshman in high school, in San Francisco where he grew up.

“I sucked at first,” he said. “I had never played before and the coach just assumed because I played football and basketball, and was this big athletic guy that I’d be a good player. Instead, I sat on the bench for the entire year. But I liked contact sports so I stuck with it.”

I asked Nick how, if he started playing lacrosse so late, he could have possibly ended up playing for a Division I college.

He answered that he was proactive and persistent.

“I spent a lot of time just throwing the ball against the wall,” he said “and by my senior year I just improved a lot, became captain, and it all just kind of clicked.”

I can tell right away that Nick is a great conversationalist. The kind of person you could easily open up to about a family tragedy and yet also go out and have a couple of beers with and know you were going to have a good time.

Our conversation flows easily from lacrosse, to school, to life.

I am shocked to learn that Nick is also my neighbor on Regis Way. His address only setting him four doors down from my home. He loves living on Regis just as much as I do. His house is always throwing parties, or having people over.

“We have a ‘revolving door’ ” he said. “There is always someone in my house who doesn’t live there. Whether it’s an LMU lacrosse player or just neighbors and friends,” he adds.

During the spout of our talk, nearly four different groups of cute college girls approach Nick and congratulate him on a good game. One of which exclaimed, “You are the meanest guy on the field!” I huge compliment for a defender.

“Hmm popular with the ladies are we?” I ask after the last set of girls leave.

Nick looks down, blushing, and lightly shakes his head. His goofy side smile suggests that he’s far more innocent then his charming exterior and not quite as confident as his aggressive lacrosse skills might suggest.

“Nah,” he says, as if reading my mind, “Things aren’t always as they appear.”