By Rich Fisher | Contributing Editor
From 2017 to 2024, Notre Dame, Lawrenceville, graduate Jake Nerwinski played Major League Soccer for the Vancouver Whitecaps and St. Louis City SC. For eight professional seasons he traveled the country and world competing against some of the greatest soccer players on the planet.
It was like living a dream-come-true every day.
But his professional career dream ended when he sustained recurring injuries and he had to retire. Though it was a disappointing blow and this past year proved to be a time of great uncertainty, Nerwinski relied on his Catholic faith and believed that God would provide.
He shared how after the 2024 season, he was a free agent with intentions to re-sign with St. Louis, but the deal never materialized. During the 2025 preseason, he was given a trial with San Diego FC, but two days into it, he tore his quad.
The injured Nerwinski and his family – wife, Allie, and daughters, 3 1/2-year-old Laine and 1 1/2-year-old Lily – returned to New Jersey to live, settling in Belmar and joining St. Catharine-St. Margaret Parish, Spring Lake, where Laine is a preschooler in St. Catharine School.
After three months of rehab for his quad, Nerwinski began playing pick-up games in Metuchen and Hoboken as he looked to sign on with another club. Three weeks after being cleared to play, he tore his ACL and for sure he knew his career was over.
In spite of all of the hardships, injuries and uncertainties he faced, Nerwinski remained strong in his religious belief, saying, “It’s something I’m trying to lean on more, and it provides a lot of comfort.”
He shared that he and Allie met and began dating as students in Notre Dame High School. They married in 2020 and it was through Allie and her family that Nerwinski began strengthening his own relationship with God.
“My wife’s family is very spiritual, very religious,” he said, noting that Allie’s brother, Father Andrew Auletta, is a priest and serves as parochial vicar of St. Joseph Parish, Downingtown, Pa.
As their relationship deepened and they were heading toward marriage, “I started to get into my faith a lot more,” he said. “I can see how it’s helped my mentality and trusting in a process and a higher power of a plan.”
Nerwinski said that his strengthened faith led to a major faith milestone: receiving the Sacrament of Confirmation on Sept. 7, 2025. He proudly shared that his Confirmation was celebrated on the same day that his daughter was baptized.
“That was one of the most special days I’ve experienced in a long time,” he said.
Nerwinski spent the past year figuring out his next career path. He explored several options in the business world, but his love of soccer prevailed.
The Lawrence Township native knew he wanted to return home and share his wisdom with youth players. This past summer he helped out at Lawrence’s Boggs/Barrett Soccer Camp, which he once attended.
Nerwinski has seen the hand of God at work in many ways. He is proud of his former MLS career; even when he was injured, not working and dealing with a lot of unknowns, he enjoyed and appreciated spending ample time with his daughters during their formative years, and now he is “very excited to come back to my roots of Mercer County.”
“I could go anywhere because it would be my own business, but Mercer County holds a very important part of my life and my heart,” he said. “I want those players to grow and for someone to make it out like I did. If I can help play a part in that, it would be amazing.”