Jackson Bragman, Special to The Denisonian–

“Cherry and pit. What do we got?” An ice breaker Denison University head men’s soccer coach Brandon Bianco uses with his players at the start of every team leadership committee meeting. 

The committee is composed of a group of half a dozen team members – including players of all grades and on field positions – who meet with the coaching staff every Tuesday. It’s one of many ways Bianco encourages his players to be leaders on and off the field. 

In this exercise, the cherry is meant to symbolize a sweet or positive event in the lives of the players and coaches, and the pit, a more negative occasion. The first to share is senior striker from Chicago, Jake Krueger, “My cherry is that I don’t have much school work this week, and my pit, eh, probably just the game, my penalty, it sucked.” 

Krueger had a historic season for the Big Red in 2024. He led the team with 14 goals and seven assists, becoming the first Denison player to ever be named NCAC Offensive Player of the Year. Krueger also earned All-American honors, making him the first Denison player this century to receive the honor. However, it took time for Krueger to set his footing on the soccer program.

“He’s clearly a kid that everyone looks to now as the confident, high achieving, tremendously talented young person that he is, and he’s all of those things. He’s wonderful,” Coach Bianco said. “But as a first year, it took him some time just to have the belief in himself that he was capable of doing the things in the classroom and on the field here. There was some apprehension that he had of, was he good enough?” 

According to his teammates, the one constant with Krueger is an unwavering eagerness to build them up. 

Kameron Kist was another huge bright spot for the Big Red this past season. A junior from New Albany, Kist was named NCAC Midfielder of the year this season and he credited his senior teammate as “the best striker I’ve ever had the pleasure of sharing the field with,” and someone who instantly made him feel welcomed after transferring to Denison from Loyola Chicago ahead of his sophomore year. 

“He’s the guy who brings energy when the team needs a boost and puts a smile on guys faces when they are down,” said Kist. “Within an hour of transferring, Jake sent me a long text welcoming me to the team and introducing himself and making sure I felt at home. I think that sums him up to a tee.” 

Krueger doesn’t view himself as a “rah rah” type of leader, but as someone who just tries to bring effort, happiness and some humor to practice everyday. 

“Jake is the most unserious, serious person on the team,” said forward Jack Rice ‘27. “He has an infectious laugh and personality and has been a great mentor to me this entire year.” 

Ben Goeller ‘25, teammate and roommate to Krueger for four years, tried to sum up what his teammate has meant to him as a friend. 

“As outstanding as Jake is at soccer, he is an even better person,” said Goeller. “I enjoy the time I get to spend with Jake because I feel as though I can really be myself around him. Regardless of his inability to lower his voice, I can confidently say that I have made a life-long best friend in Jake Krueger and I don’t think I am able to describe well enough how much he truly means to me and the rest of the team.” 

Krueger has always been talented, but the self-belief piece of his game was missing. He needed the right environment to bring that confidence, and Denison turned out to be the perfect one. Over the past four years, as Krueger developed chemistry with and received trust from his teammates, he began to trust himself. 

“Connection is this team’s superpower,” said Bianco. “This team is ultra connected. You can tell they really care about each other in an authentic way and it shows up on the field. 

Given the success of Denison’s season, an at-large bid made them one of the 64 teams that qualified for the NCAA Division III tournament, despite losing in the NCAC championship. 

Denison won its first three tournament games, including a 1-0 double-overtime victory over top-ranked Mary Washington to reach the Elite 8. A  2-1 loss to Connecticut College in the quarterfinal round ended the Big Red’s best tournament run since 1979. Denison finished 15-2-6.

When talking about Krueger’s legacy for Denison, Bianco described it as one of growth and development.

“He came in as a great player, but came in as someone that lacked some of the self-belief that somebody with his amount of talent typically wouldn’t lack. I think he worked on it because he was around teammates that really cared about him. This program is much bigger than Jake Krueger, but somebody like Jake has his finger on every big moment the program has had the last few years.” 

Krueger’s importance to the Denison men’s soccer program, and all those who were a part of it over the last four years, will have a long lasting impact. In return, he’ll be left with lifelong lessons and the closest of relationships that will stick with him forever. 

“Jake is always a guy the team can count on, and a guy our team needs. He’s a heartbeat for our team,” said Kist.