By Christine Guyette '21 / Sports Information Intern
 

WILLIMANTIC, Conn. -- The men's soccer team at Eastern Connecticut State University has churned out many players in its 61-year history, but for alumni Jon Moser and Kirk Richards it seems as though they couldn't stay away. Well, at least their sons couldn't.

Jon '96, and Kirk '95 were both part of the men's soccer family under former head coach Frantz Innocent, playing as teammates during the 1992 and '93 seasons. Both natives to Connecticut, they came to Eastern with thoughts of improving both their professional and soccer careers, Jon as an All-State freshman defender from Ellington and Richards as an All-State sophomore midfielder/defender from Harwinton by way of Marist College. Both were business majors.

It was ironic that their sons -- Larson Richards and Ethan Moser -- had made their choices where they wanted to spend their soccer careers unaware of their commonality. Before enrolling at Eastern this past fall, Ethan had 'friended' Larson on Instagram, but had no idea that their fathers had been teammates more than 25 years ago. "It's pretty cool to think about," Ethan says.
Fourteenth-year Eastern head coach Greg DeVito knew both Ethan and Larson before they had entered into the college recruiting process, and had known Ethan's dad for much longer. "We had met at a local gym {in the late 1990s] and I found out that he was an Eastern soccer alumnus, so we kind of became mutual friends. I was still living in Vernon [as head soccer coach at Rockville High School] at the time." When DeVito began coaching at Eastern as an assistant coach in 2005 after coaching the boys and girls at E.O. Smith High School in Storrs, Kirk also attended games at Thomas Nevers Field with young son, Larson.

Jon started every match in the final three years of his four-year career at Eastern while Kirk started every match in which he appeared in his three-year career, missing six with an ankle injury. In 1992, they teamed on the Warriors' first post-season tournament qualifier in 15 years when they were named to the ECAC tournament and finished with a 14-6-0 record – their winningest season in 19 years. Eastern shared its first Little East Conference regular-season title in Kirk's first season in 1991 and the Warriors won the outright regular-season title during Jon's freshman season in 1992. Each was named to the All-LEC team as seniors, with Jon also earning an Eastern Scholar-Athlete Award in both years of eligibility.

Looking back, Kirk notes that "I miss the camaraderie, the day-to-day experiences that we had."
 

It wasn't until many years later that they would be reconnected with their college past, when both of their sons committed to Eastern. Ethan – like Jon -- as a freshman defender, and Larson  – also like his father – a sophomore midfield transfer from the Division I level (Central Connecticut).

Following graduation, both Jon and Kirk had stayed relatively local – Jon remaining in his hometown of Ellington and Kirk residing in Mansfield -- until the latter re-located to the West Coast for work purposes. Both of their sons had played on club teams growing up, but in separate age brackets. They had both also been coached by DeVito, with Northeast United.
 "We keep in touch," says Jon about his relationship with Kirk. "It was kind of cool to see that his son was going [to Eastern] also."

From going to games at Eastern to watching his dad play, Larson recalls the role his father played in his love for soccer. "[Kirk] had a lot of impact on me when I was growing up," says Larson, an all-conference player at E.O. Smith High School under legendary coach John Blomstrann, the winningest coach in state high school history. Larson was a freshman starter at Central in the fall of 2018 and returned as a redshirt sophomore last fall before leaving a program which, in hindsight, he later conceded was not the right fit,

That would lead him to take a break and later continue his soccer career at Eastern, where he spent this fall training and scrimmaging with the team after the pandemic wiped out outside competition. At Eastern, he reconnected with DeVito, who knew him prior to his commitment to college, and from there Larson was able to join back in the soccer life. "I never burn bridges," says DeVito, who had known Larson long enough and was happy to help him out. "He's a versatile player and plays center midfield. He understands the game.".

Ethan, one of five children of Angela and Jon Moser, had Eastern on his radar for a while as he weighed his options before choosing a landing spot for his college career. After some thought, he decided to commit to Eastern saying, "I guess you could say it's a legacy now."

Jon, who minored in computer science at Eastern, is the CEO and Founder of Finalsite, a global market provider of school marketing and communications software and services located in Glastonbury and the UK which has 5,000 clients encompassing 300 public school districts around the world.

Jon said that he encouraged his son to consider several schools before making a choice, that that "I left it up to him, and he did the research. Eastern was his number one choice. "I'm happy for him. I think he's in a good spot. I give all the credit to him. He's worked really hard [on soccer] from eighth grade through high school."

Like his dad, Ethan is planning to major in business. While Larson may take a different path than is dad as a Sport Science major, he did follow in Kirk's footsteps by choosing his uniform number 22.

As a freshman, he has been adjusting well to college soccer. "He is a center back and has some learning to do, but he's doing pretty well his first year," says DeVito. "He asks questions and wants to get better all the time." DeVito credits Ethan for doing well during these uncertain times.

Says Ethan, "Coach DeVito is tough but he's a good coach to have, he keeps you going. I was with him for two years before Eastern, and I thought it was good to continue to play under him. He has good morals and ethics and will teach me more than just soccer."