Morrissey gets a ‘kick’ out of college hockey
Freshman’s love for soccer influences his hockey playing style
Kali Mick
2/6/2025
Soccer and hockey – what could they possibly have in common?
One’s a sport meant to be played on massive green fields under a bright sun, where players leap across the pitch as their cleats kick up freshly cut grass. It’s a game of strategy and patience, where a single ball – stitched from 32 leather pentagonal panels – dictates the flow.
The other is a battle fought on frozen ground, indoors, where players glide on skates and chase a small rubber disc. Armed with wooden sticks, skaters race across the ice with speed, physicality and intensity, trying to pass and shoot the puck into the back of a small net.
Even with the stark differences between these two sports, Wisconsin men’s hockey freshman forward Gavin Morrissey has found ways to combine them, adding elements of his childhood favorite sport of soccer into his college hockey game.
Growing up in Dayton, Ohio, Morrissey’s love for sports took root early, as he balanced soccer and hockey from a young age. He officially started playing both sports competitively when he was four, but his love for soccer had him kicking a ball around the house long before that, and by the time he was two, he had already laced up his first pair of skates.
Coming from an athletic family, it’s no surprise that the freshman found his passion so young. Both of his parents played soccer, with his mom’s side boasting several collegiate players. His brother, Shane, and sister, Cameron, also started playing hockey at an early age.
“I grew up playing soccer and hockey pretty equally,” he said of the two sports that shaped his childhood. “Soccer was in the summer and fall, and I’d transition to hockey for the winter and some of the spring. I loved playing soccer. I was playing at a really high level, and even won a state championship in Ohio.”
Despite his love for both sports, Morrissey eventually faced one of the toughest choices a young athlete can make: deciding which one to pursue full-time. As training for both became more intense, the overlap between soccer and hockey schedules made it impossible to continue competing in both simultaneously.
“At the time, I honestly thought I was equally good at both, but I was probably a little better at hockey,” he explained. “There wasn’t too much more to it other than I just liked hockey a little more. I was comfortable deciding at the time, but since leaving soccer, I miss it a lot.”
Once he made the tough choice to focus on hockey, Morrissey committed fully, earning a spot on the Tri-State Spartans AAA team in Dayton in 2016. Two years later, the freshman moved to Rochester Hills, Michigan, and joined the Oakland Jr. Grizzlies AAA team, where he honed his skills until taking the next step in his career with the North American Hockey League’s Austin Bruins in 2021. He then continued his upward trajectory, making the leap to the United States Hockey League’s Fargo Force for the 2023-24 season, where the forward capped it off by winning a Clark Cup championship with the team.
Looking back on how far Morrissey has come, it’s clear that he made the right decision all those years ago, as his on-ice success has carried over to his first year at Wisconsin. The forward wasted no time making an impact for the Badgers, scoring the team’s first goal of the season on Oct. 11 against Lindenwood.
Since then, he’s blossomed into a well-rounded skater, currently ranking second among all rookies nationally in points with 29, and has impressed everyone at UW, especially his coaches and teammates.
“From the beginning of the year up until now, he’s exceeded all expectations,” said Head Coach Mike Hastings. “He plays in all situations for us, including the power play and penalty kill, and has become one of our leading minutes-played-per-night athletes. His consistency is something that we’ve needed.”
Junior forward Jack Horbach adds: “He’s unbelievable. He comes to the rink every single day and puts in the work. He’s one of our leading scorers for a reason, and coming in as a freshman, that’s not easy to do. He contributes every day in practice, which translates to games.”
Even with all of his hockey success, Morrissey hasn’t forgotten his soccer roots. He calls the sport his “escape” from hockey as he still enjoys watching and playing it in his spare time. Soccer also holds a special place in his heart because it’s allowed him to connect on a deeper level with his family, especially his younger brother, Shane.
Shane and Gavin grew up playing both soccer and hockey together, and the pair have been close ever since they were young. Whenever Gavin is able to visit home, they go to a local field to play soccer, something the freshman looks forward to in the summers. During the hockey season, the brothers stay connected by watching and texting about Premier League soccer matches. Gavin is a Manchester City fan, while Shane cheers for rival team Manchester United, which adds another layer of excitement to their favorite activity.
“We’ve probably watched soccer together just as much, if not more than we watch hockey,” Shane said. “We watch every single weekend. It constantly dominates our lives as much as hockey does.”
The pair even has their own Fantasy Premier League, which Morrissey is heavily invested in, according to road roommate Horbach.
“There will be times when he’s got soccer games running on his computer, iPad and the TV in the hotel room,” he said of Morrissey's dedication to being a Premiere League fan. “I’m like, ‘what are you doing,’ and he says, ‘I’ve got my fantasy lineup that I need to produce this weekend, and they need to do good.’ It’s funny to see how he interprets those games and how it translates into hockey for him.”
All of the hours Morrissey has spent glued to soccer games on TV hasn’t been for nothing, as the forward has pulled multiple aspects of the game into his own hockey playing style. His favorite players growing up were former Manchester City players David Silva and Morgan Rogers. Watching them taught Morrissey the importance of spatial awareness and strategic transitions.
“A lot of Rogers’ game as a midfielder is transitioning play from defense to offense,” Morrissey said. “He has to find gaps in open lanes in the middle of the field while getting passes from his defense and turning the ball to make plays to his forwards. There’s a lot of shoulder checking, scanning and spatial awareness in his game, and I think I do that pretty well in hockey because it’s what I used to do while playing soccer.”
Growing up, Morrissey played as a center midfielder in soccer, a position that requires a lot of the same skills necessary to his current position as a center in hockey.
“In soccer, you have to constantly know where everyone is by looking over your shoulders and behind you," he said. "You have to know what you’re going to do before you get the ball. In hockey, when we’re in our defensive zone and our defensemen have the puck, being able to know what’s going on behind me and quickly figure out where I can go with it is a direct implementation of my soccer background.”
Coach Hastings agrees with Morrissey that his experience and love for soccer have made him a better hockey player.
“A big piece of soccer is support, which is very natural for Gavin,” Hastings said. “He’s probably one of our best players at supporting a puck, no matter if it's in our zone, the neutral zone or the offensive zone. His awareness of spatial areas and where he should be when he should be is something that looks like it’s pretty second nature to him. It’s interesting seeing a hockey guy have that passion for soccer.”
Shane, who is a massive supporter of his brother and watches almost every Badger men’s hockey game, has also noticed Gavin’s unique spatial awareness abilities.
“You don’t see that a ton from other hockey players," Shane said. “They just do tape-to-tape, direct passes. Gavin does ‘through-balls,’ which is what they’d be called in soccer, where he floats the puck into an area and lets his teammates skate into it. He's constantly aware of where everyone is and makes no-look passes because he knows how much space him and his teammates have. Some players, fans and coaches might not see it, but from a soccer perspective, it’s very clear to me and Gavin.”
Morrissey’s love for soccer doesn’t just translate on the ice, but he’s used it to build connections with his teammates off the ice, too. A big part of hockey culture is ‘sewer ball,’ an activity built into the game day routines of every skater. Everyone stands in a circle, and the goal is to keep a soccer ball up in the air without letting it hit the ground. Participants each have two touches, and if you take more than that or let the ball hit the ground, you’re out. The circle keeps getting smaller until the last person standing is crowned the winner.
“It’s a ritual, every team I’ve ever been on does it,” said Morrissey on being able to integrate soccer into his hockey life. “It’s one of my favorite parts of the day. In the past, I’ve probably been guilty of playing too much sewer before games because I enjoy it so much. It gets your brain moving and your legs warmed up – it keeps you loose. I love doing it, and I think most of the guys would say the same thing.”
The freshman considers himself “pretty good” at sewer ball, something Horbach agrees with as he claims that the pair are “one and two” on the team.
Playing sewer has helped Morrissey build the chemistry necessary to be successful in hockey while showing off his passion for the other sport that’s defined his life.
Even after leaving his soccer career in the past all those years ago, he’s still able to keep his love for it alive as it will forever be intertwined with his college hockey experience.
Though he’s only in his first year at Wisconsin and has a long hockey journey ahead of him, Morrissey hopes to one day return to the pitch, even if it’s just for fun. For now, he’s focused on driving as much team success as he can with the Badgers and making the most of his time here.
“I love playing at the Kohl Center – it’s the coolest experience ever,” the freshman said. “College hockey in general has been so fun for me. All the games feel so meaningful and important, and having fans that you feel a responsibility to play for every night is awesome. It keeps me motivated.”
Morrissey’s enthusiasm for college hockey mirrors the joy he once felt as a kid on the soccer field, with every game providing that same rush of energy and excitement.
“I get a kick out of it,” he said. “Pun intended.”