Growing up in a suburb just north of Dallas, there were more than a few Friday nights when Carson Williams liked to think of himself as a football player.
 
            Just not the kind of one he has become.
 
            In the early part of this decade, the current Villanova junior lined up at wide receiver as he rose through the ranks in his hometown of Plano. A good athlete, he relished the competition on the gridiron in a sport that both his father and grandfather had played (his father went on to play baseball for a season at Baylor before an arm injury ended his career).
 
            "American football is almost like a second religion where I'm from," says Williams of the hold the game has on his native state.
 
            Yet Williams had another option. He was the rare dual threat athlete who also excelled at international football, the game better known as soccer in this part of the world. Soccer also appealed to him and that connection has carried him all the way from the Lone Star state to a suburb of Philadelphia, where he now stands as one of the top goalkeepers in the BIG EAST for the Villanova Wildcats.
 
            Williams and the Wildcats have yet to surrender a goal in posting victories over Delaware (5-0) and William & Mary (1-0) to open 2019. Villanova next hosts Philly Soccer Six rival Temple (0-2 overall, 0-0 American) Saturday at the Higgins Soccer Complex at 1 p.m.
 
            "The more I've played soccer," states the redshirt sophomore now in his second season as the 'Cats starting goalie, "the more I've grown to love it."
 
            Soccer may live in the shadow of the other football in the Dallas Metroplex, but Williams was introduced to it before he was five.
 
            "My parents didn't know much about soccer," he recalls, "so I kind of had to figure everything out on my own."
 
            (These days, Williams' parents catch every minute of Villanova Soccer they can, either in person or via the digital streams on Nova Nation All-Access and the BIG EAST Digital Network).
 
            Williams flashed enough soccer promise to attract the attention of the Dallas Texans Development Academy. That entailed a year-round commitment which meant the fall became a rather hectic time. Most afternoons he went directly from a two-hour football practice to soccer training at the Academy.
 
            "Those were very long days," he says now.
 
            It wasn't until near the end of his junior year at Plano Senior High School that Williams gave up playing American football. There are times he misses it.
 
            "Pretty much our whole town would come for games," he recalls. "It was just a cool experience."
 
            Yet those are mostly occasional wistful moments. Williams is now fully immersed in his sport and eager to maximize every ounce of his talent in the hope of one day playing professionally.
 
            A key moment in Williams' soccer development was when he got the call up to the US national team. It was an indication that his skills as a keeper – the position he began playing at age six - would offer opportunities in college that had seemed quite distant not so long ago.
 
            "Being at the academy really gets you to want to train," Williams states. "We trained four times a week with games every weekend. I think it helped me with the adjustment to college soccer with the travel and level of play."
 
            If there were any drawbacks to playing the "other" football in his home state it was that aren't many local Division I soccer options nearby. Most of the interest in Williams came from schools in the northeast and northwest corners of the United States.
 
            "Villanova was actually one of the last schools I talked to," he recalls. "It was really late in the process."
 
            A campus visit, though, sealed the deal.
 
            "I loved it right away – the guys on the team, the coaches, the school," he says. "I didn't know much about Villanova before that, but something hit when I came to visit."
 
            Williams arrived in 2017 with the understanding that he would likely have an apprentice year as a redshirt to senior goalkeeper Will Steiner. The plan would allow Williams to learn in practice while observing from the sidelines during the regular season.
 
            "Steiner is a very good player and was a great mentor," Williams states. "So it was kind of nice to be behind him and watch how he handled everything. I feel like being able to sit that first year really helped my progression. It allows you to not focus on the games and keep your mind on training, workouts and all the little things that go into it."
 
            Steiner had carried the load in net for Villanova with distinction for four seasons so his exit left a considerable void. Understudies Carson Hunt, Williams and Kent Dickey all were in contention for the starting spot. Williams started the opener at Delaware and went on to play every minute of the 2018 campaign, posting four shutouts and a 1.20 goals against average in a 7-8-2 campaign. He was twice tabbed BIG EAST Freshman of the Week.
 
            "It's a lot faster pace when you get to this level," Williams says. "The Big East is one of the most physical conferences in college soccer so that was an adjustment too.
 
             "As a team we were disappointed in how the season turned out. We lost a lot of one goal games."
 
            A new campaign, however, brings fresh hope. In his second season of active duty, Williams helps anchor a veteran defensive group that includes senior center backs Shane Bradley and Luca Mellor. The Wildcats' defense has largely kept the pressure off Williams thus far, forcing him to make just two saves in the season's first 180 minutes.
 
            "I haven't had much to do save-wise," he says with a smile, "but that's a good thing. I credit a lot of that to Luca and Shane. They're always throwing their bodies into it. It makes my job easier."
 
            But the holdovers have only been part of the story. A collection of freshmen – including Lyam MacKinnon, Viktor Benediktsson, Josh Belluz, Anthony Dragisics and Marcus Brenes – have injected fresh energy and creativity into the 'Cats attack.
 
            "In the midfield we brought in a whole freshman class," notes Williams. "We're able to play through the middle more than we were last year. They love to get the ball. Those guys bring a whole different energy."
 
            There is a determination present too that Williams has detected born out of the frustration from last season's disappointment.
 
            "We have a new saying – win the next moment," he states. "I think we understand there are things we need to do every day, every practice, every game – gritty things that aren't always pretty."
 
            Williams has done some growing of his own. The Communications major concedes he hasn't always been the most vocal keeper but has worked to add that to an arsenal that already includes quickness and an ability to react quickly when an attacking side presses towards goal.
 
            Now, he, Hunt, and Dickey can also lean on new assistant coach Alex Balog, who works closely with the keepers.
 
        "He's been awesome for us," Williams says. "Alex brings something different. He's a former head coach who knows what he's talking about. His training sessions are tough and really prepare us for the games."
 
        Had his life turned just a bit differently, Carson Williams might be readying for a different kind of game this Saturday, on a 100-yard field with goalposts at either end. Instead, he'll be in front of his net on the turf at the Higgins Soccer Complex, standing at the ready for whatever tests Temple may send his way.
 
        Friday Night Lights have given way to Soccer Saturdays.
 
        And Williams is quite happy to be a part of them.