Menudier: A Surprise and Then Some

Heading into the America East men's soccer tournament, University of New Hampshire coach Marc Hubbard was taking stock of his team and mentioned senior Victor Menudier (Limoges, France), who transferred in from Presbyterian College a couple of years ago.

"We've played a lot of guys, again because of the circumstances," Hubbard said. "And the biggest surprise may have been Victor Menudier. He's been a center back, playing defense, his whole life and we converted him to forward and he's been real helpful up there."

That turned out to be a bit of an understatement and a harbinger of what was to come.

Menudier had scored three goals in UNH's seven regular season games. He then scored three of the team's four goals in matching 2-0 shutouts of Hartford and Vermont en route to a third straight America East tournament championship.

Entering the season with one career point with the Wildcats, Menudier had a breakout season leading the team with six goals and 14 points, while his two assists were tied for third. His 0.67 goals per game were 22nd nationally and his 1.56 points were 27th. Menudier was named the Most Outstanding Player of the America East Tournament and earned second team All-Conference honors along with All-Academic Team accolades. He also was named to the All-Northeast Region First Team.

Victor Menudier led the team with six goals and 14 points this season (Photo by China Wong)

"I wasn't used to scoring a lot of goals, but this year's it's changing," Menudier said on the UNH Wildcast, the podcast presented by Mike Murphy, associate athletic director for Marketing & Communications. "The feeling you have when you score a goal is something special."

Menudier had scored one goal total in his first three seasons as a defender, two as a regular at Presbyterian and then in 2019 after transferring to UNH and seeing very limited playing time.

He's getting a kick out of his new role.

"Every time I look at the pictures after the game, it looks like I'm going crazy," Menudier said. "You're in such a zone when you score, having fun doing a celebration with your teammates makes it even better. The feeling when you score a goal in soccer it's like . . . It's hard to put words on that, but it's so much fun."

Menudier was a back but transitioned to a forward in an outstanding way this season (Photo by China Wong)

Those teammates are enjoying it, too. Senior forward Jacob Gould smiles when the subject comes up.

"Victor's a great dude and I'm super happy for him," Gould said. "He's a center back at heart, right? That's what he was when he first got here. He's gotten the opportunity to play up top and he's displaying whey he deserves to be there. . . . He's been a key factor in all of our wins really."

UNH went 8-1-1 this season good for a program-best .850 winning percentage which was fifth in the nation. The Wildcats averaged 2.20 goals a game, which ranked ninth in the country.

Here's another thing that makes the Victor Menudier story stand out: There was some doubt whether he would return to UNH for this season. He stayed at home during the fall and did his classes in the Peter T. Paul College of Business & Economics online. He chose to return, not sure what his role would be, and proceeded to become a key piece of the team. After not playing much in 2019, Menudier had begun working out as a forward in the spring of 2020 and he nailed down his spot this spring. In addition, he is thriving in the classroom as he is a member of the National College Athlete Honor Society and will be back in the fall to finish his masters degree in finance, along with his playing career.

Hubbard could not be happier.

He calls Menudier and Paul Mayer (Strasbourg, France), who combinded for 11 of the team's 22 goals, "The French Connection" and "The Twin Towers."

Paul Mayer and Menudier celebrating UNH's third straight America East Championship (Photo by China Wong)

Both are 6-foot-2.

"To have guys of that size and athleticism - and they have good chemistry - it was really fun to watch them this season," Hubbard said. "And it will be fun to continue to watch them next season, too. To see Victor, he's gone from not playing as a center back to continue to improve and help us and finish goals, it's incredible. I'm proud of him and proud of the guys."

Allen Lessels
@UNHInsider
Allen.Lessels@unh.edu

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