A soccer goalkeeper might be the loneliest position in sport.

Separated by some fifty yards or so from your nearest teammate for stretches on end, one can hardly fault the folks who stand as the last line of defense on the pitch for allowing their minds to wander from time to time.

GSSC (Greater Sudbury Soccer Club) U16 Impact shot-stopper Noah Palladino already had good reason for the occasional daydream or two given his post - before he discovered another.

As luck would have it, his Sudbury crew would play the bulk of their 2024 home games at the venerable venue that is Queen's Athletic Field in the downtown core, site of an overwhelming majority of the soccer matches that form the basis of stories that are still shared from the fifties, sixties and seventies.

That era would run smack dab into the very wheelhouse of one Eddy Palladino, one of the most gifted scorers ever to grace our fair city - and grandfather to the young man who would have dearly loved to have an opportunity to make a diving save, denying the Sudbury Sports Hall of Famer another strike.

Throw in the fact that both Noah's father (Dan) and uncle (Rob) rose through the soccer ranks to prominence on that same stretch of grass - or what's left of the grass - and one can sense the aura of a "Field of Dreams" of another kind.

"The fact that we're playing on the exact same field that my Nono and my dad played on - I think that's pretty cool," noted the 15 year-old grade 10 student at St Benedict Catholic Secondary School.

"They were in the exact same shoes that I am now," Palladino added. "Fifty years ago, my grandpa played on this field. It's crazy to think."

Born a few years after the passing of the man who helped lead the 1964 Italia Flyers to an Eastern Canadian title (in a game in which Eddy scored but broke his leg on the same play), Noah would have to rely on the memory of others to share the images of his grandfather's legacy.

"When I was around the age of nine or ten, my dad started telling me stories about Nono and how he played soccer," noted the teen who has shared his athletic pursuits in his youth between both hockey and soccer.

"My dad always wore number seven - and so did my Nono. That's when I started to realize that my family is really big in the sport - and I wanted to keep it going."

Taking in one of his son's outings this summer, Dan Palladino was struck by the setting.

"I was sitting watching him (Noah) and it suddenly hit me," said the local man who would also eventually suit up with the Flyers and remained involved with a very competitive Sudbury Men's Soccer League through much of the eighties and nineties.

"To know that my father suited up and played at Queen's when it was a dirt field and they would have thousands of people in the stands is something."

Eddy was just 29 years old when his soccer injury prompted him to hang up the cleats, having served as captain of the well-known team that was rising to prominence thanks to the infusion of talent that arrived in the form of Ferruccio Deni and co-horts through the golden days of Sudbury soccer.

Eddy's son (Dan), a high-school talent at St Charles College, would be directed, two decades later, by then Cardinals' soccer coach Rob Gallo to take the next step. "He recruited me to play for the Italia Flyers men's team," said Dan.

"I sat the bench and learned. I was happy with that - and my father was ecstatic. I was with his beloved Italia Flyers."

Truth be told, Queen's Athletic Field is no longer the Holy Grail of settings for the Beautiful Game in the Nickel City. That torch has been passed to the turf that adorns the James Jerome Sports Complex north pitch.

Still, there is something about Queen's that quickly conjures visions for anyone above the age of fifty who has lived in Sudbury much of their lives.

"When we played Ontario Cup at Queen's, the field was an advantage," noted Dan Palladino, a midfielder throughout his soccer career. "We played on this bumpy lumpy field and they're not used to playing on it."

"James Jerome is a better field, in my opinion, just with the conditions of the field and the age of Queen's," added Noah. It's also drastically different in terms of understanding how to play the game, especially as a keeper.

"If a through ball comes through on the turf, you might have to react quick to come out and clear it or collect it," said the keeper. "The ball rolls faster. Also, the bounce on the turf compared to the grass is way bigger."

All things that a soccer goaltender in 2024 must be mindful of when he then switches over to Queen's Athletic Field - assuming his mind has not already drifted to a man who helped put Sudbury on the soccer map a half century ago.