Northfield, Vt.
Purdy, a standout soccer player at Lebanon High before starting 52 of 69 games as a Norwich midfielder and defender, originally intended to pursue a career as a naval flight officer, a non-piloting role specializing in airborne weapons and sensor systems. It was while a passenger in an SH-60 Sierra helicopter during last summer’s ROTC trip to San Diego’s North Island Naval Air Station that Purdy decided he instead wanted to seize the controls of military aircraft.
“Sitting in the front seat and actually flying changed my preference,” said Purdy, who started at central defense and scored twice for a Cadets men’s soccer team that reached the Great Northeast Athletic Conference final earlier this month. “The thrill was like no other, and I wanted to go for the most difficult and technical position.”
That’s been a personal philosophy for years for Purdy, a mechanical engineering major who was a high-honors student at Lebanon, to help him land multiple academic scholarships to Norwich. His theory: Aim high and come down a notch or two later, if necessary.
“Naval flight school should be incredibly exciting and challenging,” said Purdy, who hopes to fly the P-8 Poseidon, a Naval military aircraft with a 123-foot wingspan. “It’s kind of the same reason I chose to be a mechanical engineering major. I always try to achieve the hardest or best I can in life, to see what’s the hardest possible thing I can do. That way, no matter what happens, you’ll get skills you can use for the rest of your life, and you won’t wonder what you could have done.”
Purdy’s desire to achieve was on display as a freshman under previous Norwich coach Kyle Dezotell. While officially listed among Dezotell’s incoming recruits, Purdy strove vigorously for what he saw as a need to earn a spot on the team. It paid off as he quickly developed into one of the Cadets’ most trusted outside midfielders, starting 14 of 18 games and recording one assist.
“Some of the other freshman were like, ‘Dude, you’re on the recruitment list, relax,’ but I felt like I had to prove myself and be the best player possible,” Purdy said.
Dezotell rotated Purdy between midfielder and central defender as a sophomore, when he enjoyed his most prolific season with two goals and four assists for a Norwich team that reached the GNAC semifinals.
As the difficulty of his academic curriculum increased during the first semester of his junior year — shifting from fundamental learning to practical application and experimentation — so too did his challenges on the soccer field. Dezotell left to become coach at Ithaca (N.Y.) College, and the aggressive offensive style of his replacement, former Boston College forward Adam Pfeifer, required some adjustment.
In order to better utilize Purdy’s 6-foot, 185-pound frame, Pfeifer moved him full-time to central defense and relied on him to jump-start possessions. He started 11 of 15 games and recorded just one shot on goal as Norwich reached the GNAC final against St. Joseph’s College of Maine.
Purdy’s classmate and team captain, Colin Lozito, could sense his friend was pushing himself hard to adjust in the classroom and on the field.
“I think it was the hardest time for him academically and, at the same time, he was learning a new system and new strategies for the team,” said Lozito, a Wilmington, Vt., native who played at Twin Valley High. “You could say it was a little bit of a bump in the road, or an adjustment period, because he sets such high standards for himself and really wanted to contribute as much as he could.”
Things were less tumultuous this season for Purdy, who learned in October he’d been accepted to flight school. He scored twice during a three-game span late in the year, the first in a 7-0 win over Lasell on Oct. 11 before redirecting a corner kick from teammate Staige Davis in a 1-1 tie at Mount Ida one week later.
“We always had Jeff involved with the scheme on restarts, again just trying to take advantage of his size and his ability to gain position,” said Pfeifer. “He had a great shot on that goal, a one-touch to the far post.”
Purdy also showed scoring panache while starting three years for Lebanon High, contributing 10 goals and 11 assists for the Raiders. During his senior season, Lebanon coach Rob Johnstone shifted the team’s formation a bit to suit Purdy’s strengths, inserting him at holding central midfielder, in front of Lebanon’s defensive four.
“That really allowed him to disrupt teams with his heavy tackling and reading of the game and his ability to deliver accurate, driven balls over distance,” Johnstone said in an email.
That showed Purdy ripped the lone goal from 25 yards out in an overtime win over previously unbeaten Windham in the regular-season finale of his senior season.
“(Windham goalie) Andrew Pesci was a three-time all-state selection and is currently the starting goalkeeper for the best UNH team in years,” Johnstone noted. “It was an absolute rocket, and if I remember correctly, (Purdy) did it with his left foot.”
Purdy’s Cadets went 11-4-5 overall and 6-0-4 in conference play this year to earn the No. 3 seed in the GNAC tournament. After a 2-0 home win over Emmanuel in the quarterfinals and a 2-1 victory at Johnson & Wales in the semis, Norwich fell, 1-0, in Standish, Maine, against a St. Joseph’s team that hadn’t allowed a goal all season.
The Monks — who reached the second round of the NCAA Division III tournament before a penalty-kicks loss to Tufts — scored in the fourth minute against Norwich and finished with a 13-1 advantage in shots.
“When they scored on us in the first five minutes, it kind of set us back on our heels,” said Purdy. “We came out pretty hyped up and, as soon as we let that in, you could feel that whole mood of the game shifted.”
The loss did little to sour a strong senior season from Purdy, who’s following a naval tradition in his family that includes his grandfather Kenneth, uncle Jonathan and older brother Alex.
Johnstone, a former Middlebury College player, brought many of the Raiders’ players to the Panthers’ 3-1 win at Norwich in September. After the game, longtime Middlebury coach Dave Saward — retired this season after 33 years and 29 postseason appearances — complimented Purdy’s play.
“He texted and said, ‘Your boy did very well,’ ” Johnstone noted. “I passed that along to Jeff. It made both of us feel great.”
Jared Pendak can be reached at jpendak@vnews.com or 603-727-3225.