Junior midfielder Grant Keilin had a historic season this year, breaking the single-season goal record held by Shai Yulish since 2015.
“It means a lot to have my name up in the record books,” Keilin said. “It’s pretty cool to have a legacy here at Beachwood.”
He also led the team into an impressive playoff run that ended on Nov. 4 in the regional final and to team records for number of wins (19-3) and for goals scored this season (101).
Keilin has been on this path for a long time. He started playing soccer when he was just three years old, and it has been a major factor of his life ever since.
When he was five years old, he joined the club team CSA, now known as Cleveland Force, a team he has continued to play with since then.
I don’t get the ball if Josh [Rosenblitt] doesn’t make saves or our defense doesn’t make stops. It was a team effort.
— Junior Grant Keilin
Keilin says his role was small when he first joined the high school team.
“I wasn’t really too important,” he said.
That didn’t last long. In his sophomore year he took on greater responsibility.
“As the seniors left, even though I was young I had more experience, so people looked to me as a role model,” he said.
There was no doubt that the next year as a Junior he’d be a team captain and good role model for the other players.
“I was just trying to lead them,” Keilin said.
Keilin’s ability to score goals became evident even in his freshman year, when he scored 11 goals on the season. In his sophomore year he jumped up to 26 goals and was the team’s leading scorer.
This year, the pressure was high for Keilin to meet and exceed the standards he set for himself.
Keilin ended the season with 37 goals, leading the team in goals and a single season school record for goals in one season.
He gives lots of credit to his teammates.
Grant has been improving and will continue to improve very rapidly because of his work ethic and devotion.
— Junior Jaycob Zabell
“I don’t get the ball if Josh [Rosenblitt] doesn’t make saves or our defense doesn’t make stops,” Keilin said. “It was a team effort.”
Keilin’s performance doesn’t only affect him, but the rest of the team as well.
“He always pushes everybody during practice and he makes both the upperclassmen and lowerclassmen a lot better,” junior goalkeeper Josh Rosenblitt said.
Freshman Daniel Park has also been impacted by Keilin this season, his first year playing high school soccer.
“Grant helped me transition into the team by telling me how it was going to be and leading by example by showing me how to play,” he said.
This offseason, Keilin plans on playing club soccer for the Cleveland Force, improving his skills to bring back to Beachwood next year with the intent to win a state championship for the school.
Junior Jaycob Zabell said that the expectations for Grant’s skills and leadership for next year’s season are very high.
“Grant has been improving and will continue to improve very rapidly because of his work ethic and devotion,” Zabell said. “Grant will take an even bigger role next year as a senior, we all expect phenomenal leadership as well as performance from him.”
