As a native of Toronto attending college in the United States, Josh Belluz knows well that most here associate his hometown with a sport other than his game of choice, soccer. The city is home to one of the National Hockey League's original six franchises (Maple Leafs) as well as multiple other entries in the amateur and professional ranks.
 
Yet the truth is the bustling metropolis isn't just a hockey hotbed. In the last decade it has sent a steady pipeline of basketball players to the United States – including Dylan Ennis, who helped Villanova men's basketball to a 33-3 record in 2014-15 – and has also delivered its share of baseball and soccer players to major college and professional action in the United States.
 
In his first three seasons Belluz, 6-4, has established himself as a cornerstone of one of the BIG EAST's stingiest defensive sides. Last fall he played a key role in a resurgence which catapulted the Wildcats to their first-ever NCAA Tournament victory. Now, as a senior captain alongside classmate Anthony Dragisics, he hopes to help the Wildcats take the next step in a regular season campaign that gets underway Thursday night at Stanford (10 p.m. eastern kickoff).
 
Yet there was a time in his youth when hockey too tugged at Belluz's heart.
 
"Most of my friends played hockey," Belluz recalls with a chuckle, "so I played hockey for a bit. My Dad (Mark Belluz) had played hockey. For most of those early years, it was just hockey and soccer. I was actually better at hockey then than I was at soccer."
 
The dual sport approach began at around age six and continued until age nine when the obligations for both became too much. It was time to pick a favorite and Belluz – who primarily was a goalie on the ice – cast his lot with soccer.
 
"I picked soccer mostly because I could play year round," he states. "I used to play soccer at recess, and we couldn't play hockey at recess. I just kind of fell in love with it there."
 
The affinity grew over time. In his idle hours after the school day ended Belluz – pronounced "bell-use" – often binged on YouTube soccer highlights. His parents were supportive and Belluz kept improving over the next few years.
 
"I think my Dad noticed that I was starting to get frustrated at the level I was playing," notes Belluz. "He felt that I needed to be challenged more than I was."
 
One day, Josh Belluz hopped into the car with his father at the wheel to head off to practice. As they rode along the highway, the car went past the usual exit and instead used another. Josh Belluz was perplexed when his father parked the car at an unfamiliar pitch.
 
"We're here," father announced to son.
 
"Here" was the Vaughan Soccer Club, an Ontario based developmental program that has sent multiple players on to college in both the United States and Canada. Josh Belluz made the most of a tryout – he was already among the taller prospects in his class – and was brought into the program. It didn't take long for him to realize that there was much to learn.
 
"I remember my first session vividly," he says now. "Everyone was pretty much better than me. I had mixed feelings. I was not as good as I thought I was. But I thought, you know what, if I keep working and playing with those guys, I'll keep getting better. My time at Vaughan is what shaped me to be the player I am today."
 
Belluz would spend the better part of the next six years with the club. Along the way, he blossomed into a prospect with both good skill and size.
 
"I was always in the top row of the school picture but at the ends," he notes. "I wasn't the tallest, but I was among the taller kids."
 
By age 16, that had changed. In the span of about 14 months, Belluz estimates he grew 7-8 inches.
 
"But that came with some challenges," he says. "I had some growing pains. I had to grow into that body. It was like playing in a new body. It was difficult."
 
It didn't help that an injury kept him sidelined for a period of months in that stretch. By the time he resumed action, his task was to virtually relearn how to integrate his ball skills with a larger frame.
 
"I hadn't touched a ball in six, seven, eight months," he explains. "I would get the ball and trip over it. My legs were much longer, and my center of gravity was much higher.  In my first game back, I missed my first four passes. It was a slow process."
 
The prospect of playing soccer at the collegiate level began to crystalize as Belluz reached the 10^th grade. As part of its schedule, Vaughan took part in showcase events in the U.S., traveling to Massachusetts, Connecticut, Florida and New Jersey. That brought a layer of visibility to American coaches not readily available north of the border.  
 
"It was really competitive," he recalled, "and you knew that you may only have one chance to perform in front of a certain coach."
 
The initial contact with Villanova came through former assistant coach Mike Montross. That led to head coach Tom Carlin attending a showcase in Connecticut. Belluz' club coach related to his pupil that the Villanova coach most wanted to see him make a physical tackle.
 
"I think the first challenge of the game I got a yellow card," Belluz states with a laugh. "I guess I proved the point."
 
Carlin was interested and Belluz later made a campus visit. When that concluded, Belluz was sold.
 
"I fell in love with Villanova right away," he says. "I can't really describe it. You just know."
 
The Villanova staff was convinced Belluz could contribute quickly. In fact, he was part of a large swath of freshmen to log substantial minutes including Viktor Bendiktsson, Marcus Brenes, Dragisics, Lyam MacKinnon and Gray Ricca. The 'Cats finished 9-8-1 and were upbeat about having turned a corner.
 
In March 2020 the COVID-19 pandemic shut down the University and Nova's spring season. The fall schedule was pushed into the spring of 2021 and with minimal practice time together, the Wildcats struggled to a 2-8 mark.
 
"It was a rough year," Belluz notes. "We were unlucky in a lot of games. It wasn't good.
 
 "Looking back, though, that was something we needed. That only made us stronger. In our freshman year I think we were comfortable in certain situations. In some games we were very lucky to get a result. I think that next season brought us back down to where we needed to be. We were around each other a lot more as a team in the pandemic. You start to learn more about each other.
 
"After that we put more into our identity and how we wanted to play."
 
The best start to a BIG EAST regular season (4-0) in program history helped the Wildcats survive a rough patch in October 2021. Belluz went down with a leg injury in a 1-0 win over Connecticut on Oct. 8. He watched from the sidelines as Nova dropped three in a row at home to St. John's, Creighton and DePaul.
 
Belluz returned on Oct. 24 as Villanova bounced back with a 2-0 win in suburban Chicago.
 
"I wanted to make a push to get back to help us," he says.
 
Alas, Belluz never did regain his top form. He helped Villanova lock down a BIG EAST postseason berth with a draw at Providence and home pitch win over Seton Hall. Then he contributed to a 2-1 win at Creighton in the opening round of the BIG EAST Tournament.
 
 When the 'Cats visited Georgetown for a BIG EAST semifinal match, Belluz was on the field for 81 minutes. But the wear and tear of the previous weeks aggravated the original injury. That left him out of the lineup for the NCAA Tournament win at Vermont (1-0) and loss at Notre Dame. In the final tally he played 15 of Nova's 21 games in 2021.
 
  "It was a little bittersweet but mostly sweet," he says. "My goal in the end was to help our team get there. We did that. It was my first time experiencing the NCAA Tournament, so I had still had a lot of fun. I enjoyed that moment watching the guys play on that stage."
 
Now the bar is raised. The Wildcats return mostly intact with only the subtraction of goalkeeper Carson Williams from the core unit. Even there, veteran understudy Kent Dickey showed his mettle a season ago posting an 0.45 goals against average and a pair of shutout wins while spelling Williams.
 
"We're all very connected and we definitely have the group to get where we want to go," he says.
 
Where once a soccer ball was little more than a way to be active at recess, it is now so much more. One day – perhaps as soon as next spring – Belluz hopes to be in position to realize his dream of playing the game professionally. For now, though, it's about this group of Wildcats and the ways they will be challenged beginning with the pair of games in Northern California this weekend (Villanova visits Cal on Sunday at 4 p.m.).
 
 "I'm feeling really good," Belluz says. "All the injuries from last season are forgotten about."
 
It all begins Thursday night in Palo Alto, Cal.