At 6-foot-2 and 200 pounds, the senior from Ontario, Calif., has the ideal size to be a physical forward for the Matadors – and last week he proved it in the Matador Invitational, scoring two game-winning goals and being named Big West Conference Player of the Week. Sims’ journey as a soccer player took a short stop at Mt. San Antonio College after high school, but has landed him as one of the Matadors’ starting forwards and already has three goals in the young season.

His CSUN career did not start out as planned, however, as he missed a significant chunk of last season’s campaign with an injury. Now, relatively pain-free, he goes about his role on the team in a workman-like attitude. “I’m just doing my job. I’m just doing what [coaches] teach us,” he often says, while making sure he mentions the importance of staying humble despite such accolades for his performance.

Sims says he enjoys a variety of sports and considers himself an all around athlete. “Anything that involves scoring, I’m there,” he said. But clearly his bread and butter is soccer. And to get pumped before a game the forward says Jay-Z is the music of his choice.

In a sport such as soccer, diet is crucial and can literally catch up to you in the middle of a match. Sims adheres to the widely recognized laws of soccer diet which focuses on carbs and potassium. During the season he says he loads up on sandwiches and bananas for energy and to avoid cramping in the legs. He does admit, though, that his weakness is a big serving of Olive Garden when he feels like cheating his regimen.

“We’re young, so it doesn’t really affect us that much. We can pretty much survive on anything.”