Maine Maritime Academy’s men’s soccer team is processing the loss of a teammate who died in a fiery crash off campus Saturday.
Brian Kenealy, a sophomore midfielder, was remembered by a teammate and his coach as a player who put in the effort and worked his way up from being a student assistant manager to becoming a full-roster athlete in his second year.
“It was so awesome to see him grow, to go from the freshman to sophomore year, from a manager to a player,” said Eli Moulton, a fellow soccer team member.
Moulton recalled that Kenealy was the kind of teammate that you wanted to sit next to for meals or on the ride to away games. His bright demeanor helped many team members to see him as a little brother.
“He was passionate about wanting to be on the program,” said Billy Shannon, the team’s coach. “Obviously, everyone here is going through a difficult time.”
Kenealy was one of four Maine Maritime students who died early morning when the Range Rover driven by Joshua Goncalves-Radding went off Route 166 and hit a tree. Classmates Chase Fossett, Luke Simpson and Riley Ignacio-Cameron also died. A vigil was held for them on Sunday.
Circumstances of the crash are still under investigation and details may not be available for weeks, police said Monday.
Three other people in the vehicle were injured in the crash, including fellow soccer teammate Dominick Gecoya.
Academy officials say they’ve reached out to the students that survived and are monitoring their progress. A spokesperson was unable to offer a comment on their condition. Police had previously said that the students’ injuries were not life-threatening.
Even though the season had been over for more than a month, the men’s soccer team was still in close contact through the off-season. Shannon declined to say what the team had done in the days after it learned about Kenealy’s death, saying he wished to keep the students’ grieving process private.
Kenealy, 20, was from York and graduated from York High School in 2021. People from home were also grieving, said York schools superintendent Lou Goscinski.
“Brian was an outstanding student-athlete who was beloved by his classmates, faculty, and staff,” he said. “He took his skills to the Maine Maritime Academy, where he continued to excel academically and on the soccer field.”
Finals exams at the Castine college were scheduled to start on Monday, but the school released students from any obligation to take them in light of the students’ deaths. Students have the option to take the examinations if they want to complete them.
The campus is now largely empty and counselors were being made available to students throughout the holiday break.
