ALL IN THE FAMILY

HENNIKER — It took a moment of excruciating pain to produce this unique, feel-good situation.

In the spring of his freshman year at New England College, former Portsmouth High School soccer standout Cooper Valinski suffered a serious knee injury, tearing his ACL, MCL and meniscus, a trifecta that would wipe out his entire sophomore season.

Now captaining the team as a redshirt senior while he works on a graduate degree, Valinski is not only sharing the field with his brother Ryder, who is two years younger, but also his youngest brother, Tucker, who just arrived a freshman.

Three brothers. One opportunity together they never thought they would have.

"I think it's amazing," said Cooper, before practice one recent afternoon. "Through high school we were never able to all be on the same team. Now we're all on the field together, getting to play with each other. It's a surreal experience."

Cooper, the team’s leading scorer with three goals and nine points from his attacking midfielder position and Ryder, a sturdy outside back, have started every game for the Division III Pilgrims (3-2-1) and are first and third on the team in minutes played, with standout sophomore back Carter Adams in between them.

Tucker, who is also a defender, is seeing regular time off the bench, playing more than 30 minutes a game.

"It's a good time," said Ryder.

Sports, especially soccer, was a big part of their lives growing up in Portsmouth (though Cassidy, the oldest sibling, made her athletic mark as a runner at Norwich University). They grew up in the Portsmouth City Soccer Club and entered indoor leagues every offseason at Seacoast United, sometimes with a team made up entirely of family.

Cooper began attracting Division III college interest late in his junior year and was contacted by NEC coaches at the start of his senior soccer season. He liked the small-school setting, the stronger connections he’d have with his teachers, and a soccer team that appeared to act like a big family.

And he he knew family.

Coming back from his injury, he enjoyed a breakthrough season last year, scoring 13 goals -- second in the North Atlantic Conference -- and getting named to the All-NAC first team.

"Cooper's probably been one of the better players that we've ever had here,” said NEC coach Dave DeCew, now in his 16th season. “He's a really gifted player but he also works as hard as anyone. He does it with a little bit of everything -- skill, force of will and just because he competes.

“All three of those guys, that's really what it's all about. They come out here and set a tone for the whole team and we wouldn't be where we are without them."

As a redshirt senior, Cooper can see the finish line to his college career approaching. He’s commuting from the Seacoast each day for classes and practice (his brothers are living on campus), and would like to go into teaching, maybe becoming an athletic administrator down the road.

And he can appreciate the unique opportunity his knee injury has provided not just him, but his brothers, his family and his soccer program.

"I think it means a lot,” said DeCew. “For them, for their family, it means a lot. They wanted to have the opportunity to be on the field together. But it also means a lot for us.”

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Ryder Valinski played with both of his brothers -- separately -- at Portsmouth High School, but he was only one that played a big role on one of the best teams in program history.

He was a senior back on the Caleb Paterson-coached squad (current coach Eric Martens was an assistant) that caught fire down the stretch in 2015, winning playoff games against Trinity and Plymouth on the road, then upsetting top-seeded Windham on PKs to reach the Division II final.

"It was great," said Ryder. "Being on what I like to think is the best team in Portsmouth history was pretty cool. Scoring the fifth PK in the first round and the semis to go to the finals, and being a senior leader on the team was really special. It really built up my confidence that I could play at the next level."

He looked at other Division III programs in area because he liked being within range of home and ultimately decided to join his older brother here.

As a freshman, his season was limited to seven games as the Pilgrims -- not unlike his 2015 Portsmouth team -- pulled upsets in the quarterfinals and semifinals in the conference tournament, and won the championship in PKs to gain the program’s first NCAA tournament berth.

He broke out as a sophomore, starting 20 games on a good back line, though the team saw its season ended with a semifinal loss to Castleton and finished 11-7-2.

"Through need, we put him at that outside back spot and he's owned it ever since,” said DeCew.

By the time he started looking at colleges, Tucker Valinski didn’t need any nudging.

“I had these two telling me how the team is, how the guys are as a group, and just seeing them off the field, you see them all interacting,” he said. “It seemed like a family.”

And his brothers put in a good word with the coaches, right?

“I assumed so,” said Tucker, laughing.

His play is nothing to laugh at. He’s on the field a lot, with a toughness not always associated with freshmen at this level.

"Tucker's shown to be not only a good soccer player, but tough," said DeCew. "Having his older brothers here, not only at the school but as mentors in the college game, has allowed him to be a little bit more prepared than maybe the average freshman."

That goes all the way back to youth soccer, Cooper noted.

“I know what they’re capable of doing,” he said. “So pushing them to a certain level, to where they’re going to get mad at me, they know I’m point them to a direction that will benefit them in the long run.”

“I looked up to both of them because they are better than me,” said Tucker. “At least in most aspects. But they’ve always been pushing me to get better. As much as it (stunk) sometimes about them being on my case about everything, it’s definitely helped.”

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New England College is competing in a new league this year, the New England Collegiate Conference, where they should be contenders. The schedule has been stiffened by non-conference games against Salve Regina (3-0 loss) and Wheaton (4-1 loss), and there are games against regional powers Babson and Amherst upcoming.

Of the 3-2-1 record the team brought into Saturday’s game at Elms (Mass.) College, DeCew said: “If you had offered where we're at right now, I would have felt pretty good about it."

There are goals for the brothers both on and off the field.

“Obviously, we want to do something special; it would be great for the family as whole,” said Ryder. “But building for the future, too, is what we’re focusing on.”

“We’re trying to make it into a family again, more like it was when I came in,” said Cooper. “We want everyone to want to win for other people.”

Even newcomers to the program see the good energy they bring.

“The one thing for me is that they’re a joy to have on the team,” said first-year assistant coach Gerard Miniaci. “They all have a personality and they’re all out here having fun.

“There are guys that step out here on the field, whether it’s a practice or a game, and you know they’re going to leave it all out on the line. From top to bottom, the three of them work 100 percent every day, and they’re trying to make themselves better, as well as the team.”

Three years ago, Ryder was the MVP on the Portsmouth team that reached the Division II final, losing to Oyster River, while Tucker watched from the bench.

Two years ago, Cooper was a key figure as the Pilgrims won the conference title, during a season that Ryder spent largely sidelined.

Can the power of three produce an achievement all of them can celebrate?

“Ryder’s freshman year, we won a championship, so me and him will always have that bond,” said Cooper. “We can’t lose that. But to do it with the three of us would be even cooler.”

“It would be really cool to win a championship together,” said Ryder. “It would be a lifelong memory.”