As he prepares to open his fifth soccer season as a Villanova Wildcat, Kent Dickey believes his time on campus has had a substantial impact on who he has become.
 
"It's weird to look back on," says the Wildcats' starting goalkeeper, who will help lead Villanova into its 2023 regular season men's soccer opener on Sunday night at the University of Albany. "I'm a different person now than the kid I came in as."
 
This native of Richmond, Va., arrived in the fall of 2018 regarded as a quality goalkeeper yet one without a clear path to early minutes as a Wildcat. Carson Williams was already entrenched as a stalwart in goal and one of the top keepers in the BIG EAST.
 
"When I got here," he says now, "I didn't know really what to expect. I didn't know anyone on the team. Back then, I probably thought more about myself than the team to be honest. I think that's changed slowly over the years. Caring about people, getting to know them, is one of the biggest things about this place (Villanova). The friendships and brotherhood I have made over the years are very special."
 
On Sunday night in the 'Cats season opener against the Great Danes, Dickey will begin his second season as the Wildcats' starting goalkeeper, a role he assumed adroitly in 2022 after the departure of his good friend Williams. The native of Richmond, Va., logged all 1,530 minutes in net for Nova a season ago, starting 17 games while posting a 1.18 goals against average.
 
Dickey is one of a handful of fifth-year players that includes Marcus Brenes and Gray Ricca, hoping to help lead Villanova back to where it was in 2021, the NCAA Tournament.
 
As a goalkeeping prospect assessing his college options, Dickey concedes he never gave much consideration to Villanova until a member of head coach Tom Carlin's staff reached out to him. His eyes were focused on another program then but when that opportunity didn't materialize, Dickey picked the Wildcats.
 
"In hindsight," states Dickey, who stands 6-3, "I've asked myself, 'why didn't I look into this sooner?' Maybe I just didn't understand this is a place I could call home."
 
When Dickey arrived, it was apparent that Williams was the incumbent goalkeeper and a newcomer wasn't likely to alter that in the short term. So, Dickey, put his head down and went to work in training, scrimmages and every opportunity that was afforded him.
 
"Coming in you have aspirations of what you want to pursue or who you want to be," Dickey states. "I never wanted to lose sight of that, even though Carson was here. I still wanted to be myself and be the best version of myself. It didn't scare me.
 
"It was a hard transition as a freshman, knowing what you can be versus what you are being asked to contribute. I'll always appreciate the work I put in."
 
One plus was that Dickey and Williams quickly formed a tight bond.
 
"I love Carson," he states. "He was my greatest competitor, but I still remember the emotion I felt after the Notre Dame game in '21. That was the final game of Carson's college career and I was struck by the emotion of it. On one hand, I knew it meant I would have the opportunity to play more. But I also felt the emotion of what it would be like to go on without my friend."
 
For Dickey, training sessions and spring ball became cornerstone moments of his development early in his college career.
 
"When you're training with a guy like Carson and a coach like (assistant) Alex (Balog), there's always something to learn," notes Dickey. "Watching Carson practice there would be times when I was like, wow, this is amazing. It's hard to not learn from that when you're around it every day.
 
"The big thing for me was just becoming a man, growing up from the young kid that I was when I came here. It helped me to think more about the team."
 
Dickey's soccer journey kicked into a higher gear at age 13 in Virginia. After sampling other sports, including basketball and tennis, he found a niche in soccer.
 
"Every time soccer asked for more," he says, "I wanted to give it. I was good at it and I had fun doing it."
 
In fact, Dickey's mother, Helga Jack, has been known to remind her son how upset he got when foul weather in the form of a storm, cancelled a game or practice.
 
"She would be like, 'I'm sorry but I can't control the weather' while I would throw a fit," Dickey says.
 
By the time he was a junior in high school, Dickey spent time with the U18 Richmond United and trained with the Richmond Kickers of the USL.
 
In 2021, Dickey made his first regular season appearances, including a pair of games in the abbreviated 10-game COVID spring campaign and then three more in the fall campaign that saw Villanova record its first NCAA Tournament win at Vermont (1-0). That led to his busy 2022 season, one that didn't land the 'Cats where they wanted to be (6-8-3 overall).
 
"I think we're all our own biggest critics," he says. "We didn't live up to the expectations we had last season so it's hard to point out individual highlights. I'm sure there are some games I played well but it's hard to focus on those. We didn't have the season we thought we could have had. I think a lot of us feel like we owe the program a little bit more than that and now we have the opportunity to do something to change that."
 
Dickey's affinity for Villanova is such that he spent each of the past two summers on campus, working as part of the Athletic Department's Equipment staff. During the summer of 2023 he was also recovering from spring surgery to repair a torn abdomen and hip muscle.
 
"For me, the story of the season is that we now have a lot of guys who maybe didn't have a lot of experience mature in the spring," he states. "Now, I think they can step up and contribute positively this fall. Observing it filled me with a lot of joy seeing guys who hadn't had a lot of minutes succeed.
 
"I think it's a key now for guys like me, Gray, Dom (Cyriacks), and Marcus to set the tone."
 
The season opens with a pair of non-league road matches. The first of those is at Albany Sunday evening.
 
"We're all competitors," Dickey states, "but I think our focus is on what's right in front of us. You can only control the next game."
 
Dickey is working towards an MBA degree at Villanova after completing his undergraduate degree as a political science major. At this point he's uncertain what may come after he is finished as a soccer athlete, but he may consider public service. Both his parents – dad is Kent Dickey Sr. - are government employees.
 
As for soccer, well, he says "you always want to hold on to the dream for as long as you can. It's difficult to give up who you are like that."
 
For now, Dickey is appreciative of the significant role Villanova has played in his life.
 
"It's so central to who I am," he states. "I'm proud to be a part of this program and this school and to represent it."