December 21, 2023 – Major League Soccer (MLS) – New York City FC News Release
For Kevin O’Toole, the last two years have felt exciting, if not chaotic.
At the start of 2021, O’Toole was drafted by New York City Football Club, and the challenge of securing a first professional contract ran alongside completing his senior thesis at Princeton University.
Fast forward to this past October, and the biggest challenge in O’Toole’s life was no longer writing to a deadline, but instead facing an eight-time Ballon d’Or winner in Lionel Messi.
“They are two very different tasks,” O’Toole said with a laugh. “I think the thesis had its challenges because I was completing it while trialing for the team two years ago during preseason.
“I was trying to put my best foot forward on the field,” he said, “But I also knew in the back of my mind that I had to come back to the hotel room and work on an 80-page senior thesis – it was not a very exciting prospect. In terms of challenging events, I would say trying to defend Lionel Messi might take the cake.”
O’Toole would complete his thesis and graduate in the summer of 2021, by which time he’d secured his first contract with NYCFC and made his debut for the Club in the U.S. Open Cup. Things were trending upward for O’Toole, with his career gaining another significant boost in September of that year.
A busy week saw the defender handed two starts – including his MLS debut – in the space of several days. Firstly, he helped NYCFC win the Campeones Cup against Mexican club Atlas FC, before overcoming Red Bulls in the Hudson River Derby – both by a 2-0 score line.
“Before that game, I really did not expect to be playing,” O’Toole said of the Campeones Cup. “It was in the prematch meeting, the day before the game where I was told I was going to be starting. It was just a whirlwind.
“At that point in the season I felt very ready to step on the field, just based on where I was mentally and how I felt in training. I tried to take all that competence with me into the game, and it was just a beautiful night and something I’ll always remember.”
He went on to add: “To be on the winning end of the derby and wearing the blue shirt, it was amazing. For that to be my MLS debut as well, it was a fitting fixture for that. It was quite the week.”
In some ways, 2023 has mirrored 2022 for O’Toole, with patience a vital skill. The 24-year-old would wait until late April for his first MLS start this season, with half-a-dozen more starts littered among…
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