He’s in a new place. Again. But it’s the same rattail. The same kid you can’t shut up. The same Nick Roydhouse.

Roydhouse’s two rattails on the back of his head distinguish him on the field. When the Syracuse midfielder darts around the field, the hair on the top of his head stands straight up, while his rattails flop behind him. He is hard to miss, even if he might hint that he doesn’t care if he is recognized at all.

Yet Roydhouse’s unique hairstyle is nothing new. He has been noticed for his hair ever since he sported a mullet at the 2007 FIFA U-20 World Cup in Canada.

The hairstyle sums up the player. It sums up the journey. Yet again, after stops in his native New Zealand and just down the road at Hartwick, Roydhouse has almost stumbled upon his next playing destination. His next place. He is the free-spirited attacking midfielder, one who possesses a paper-thin element of social screening of what is different or what should be done.

He is the 5-foot-7 Nick Roydhouse. That guy on the field with the two rattails. Arguably, the best player Syracuse has.

And aside from that ‘Syracuse’ part, he has always been that way.

‘When I played at the U-20 World Cup, I had a mullet because I just didn’t care at all,’ Roydhouse said. ‘I didn’t mind being different. The photos are funny because it’s kind of flapping in the wind. When I first got it, it was as a joke. Then six months later, it’s the U-20 World Cup, and I still had it. I don’t know why, but people kind of told me I was getting recognized for having it, so I just kept it.’

He has taken big steps throughout his life, traveling around the world to find new challenges. Yet he has retained what SU head coach Ian McIntyre called ‘quirkiness’ since playing in New Zealand’s national youth development program.

Roydhouse was first marked as different when he was the young guy on his high school team. It continued when he got the opportunity to play with the best international talent in the U-20 World Cup. Then he moved halfway around the world to attend Hartwick. And finally, he left the McIntyre-provided comfort of Hartwick to come to McIntyre-renovated SU in the middle of his college career. But together, these experiences make Roydhouse the dominant player he has become.

Already this season, he has four goals, the most of anyone on the team and a personal career high. SU captain and goalkeeper Jeremy Vuolo said despite being new to the team, Roydhouse has already established himself as a leader.

Michael Cunningham, a senior midfielder at Hartwick who is also from New Zealand, first became close with Roydhouse when they played in the U-20 World Cup together. Cunningham knew of Roydhouse back when the two played in the New Zealand developmental program, even though Cunningham played in the age group above Roydhouse. Starting when Roydhouse was 13 years old, he had established a reputation.

‘He was a little s***,’ Cunningham said. ‘He was always a little troublemaker. He was pretty funny.’

By the age of 14, Roydhouse was the youngest player on the Palmerston North Boys’ High School soccer team. And he was the shortest. He still remembers the team picture from that year, as he stood out as the short one in front. But despite being the youngest and the self-proclaimed most immature on the team, Roydhouse benefited from playing with the older members of the team. He said it helped him become a more mature player.

‘Everybody’s so much bigger than you and so much older than you,’ Roydhouse said. ‘I was an immature little 14-year-old, so it was real hard because there was nobody my age. But I think it helped me.’

Following high school, Roydhouse did not go immediately to college because New Zealand does not have collegiate athletics. He chose to postpone his education and pursue soccer. In the summer of 2007, he made the U-20 World Cup team. The team qualified for the tournament by advancing out of the Oceania Football Confederation and made the trip to Canada.

‘It was a massive eye-opener,’ Roydhouse said of the U-20 World Cup. ‘The level of competition was incredible. We played against Portugal in our first game, and we pretty much couldn’t touch the ball. The difference in skill was incredible. You come from New Zealand, and you’re the best players in your country, and then you get here and play against a team, and you can’t even get the ball.’

It was during this tournament Roydhouse started to make the connections that would get him to Hartwick. Cunningham, who was already at Hartwick, provided the link. Cunningham told his coaching staff that Roydhouse had been thinking about coming to play in the U.S. and that he might be a good fit for Hartwick.

A few of the Hartwick coaches, including Jukka Masalin — who is now an assistant at SU under McIntyre — went to see him play at the World Cup. They thought he was a good fit and were set about getting Roydhouse to Oneonta.

‘It was quite easy because he was eager to come over,’ Masalin said. ‘He’d been playing in the leagues over there already, and I think he thought he was ready for the next step.’

Upon his arrival at Hartwick, the differences were obvious. The most basic was the accent. He could not understand what people were saying when he first got to America. His other problem was weather-appropriate clothing. Roydhouse wore shorts almost all year round.

And given Roydhouse’s different past, he was timid when he first started playing. He was coming into a set team structure and relied heavily on Cunningham.

‘I was really quiet when I first came over,’ Roydhouse said. ‘I was so shy. I didn’t talk to anyone except (Cunningham). It took a month or two before I got into it. As soon as I got confidence, I was unstoppable. You couldn’t shut me up.’

Once he became established at Hartwick — and started to understand people’s accents — he became a go-to offensive player. He tied for the most assists on the team and scored two game-winning goals his sophomore year.

So when after two years, McIntyre told the team he was going to coach at Syracuse, Roydhouse had to consider making that next leap. He came to the U.S. for experience, and moving to a Big East school with such extensive resources would provide him with better chances than Hartwick could.

But he had to consider leaving a comfortable situation at Hartwick and leaving his friends behind. Especially Cunningham, who had been the reason for his college career in the first place. But in the end, Roydhouse said he had to make the best choice for his future.

‘I think it was his next step again,’ Masalin said. ‘He came from U-20’s, left New Zealand, came to Hartwick — which is a good level — and wanted to step into the Big East. I think the shop window in the Big East is much bigger than at MAC colleges and at Hartwick.’

The tipping point for Roydhouse was his visit during the record-breaking Syracuse-Villanova basketball game last February. He was overcome with the infectious school pride.

But the SU team he joined was hardly established, with the new players outnumbering the returners. Joining the team as a junior, he was able to quickly carve out a leadership role. McIntyre said that was thanks to his tireless work ethic on the field, complemented by his relaxed attitude in leading the Orange off the field.

‘He’s done a good job of tactically embracing the responsibilities we’ve placed on him,’ McIntyre said. ‘There’s that energy and enthusiasm that he has every practice. There’s no off switch.’

Once again, Roydhouse has had to adjust to a new team and a new role. He is currently playing as more of an attacking midfielder than he did at Hartwick. He has twice the number of goals this year than in his two previous years combined. Masalin said he is still one of his best players, and Vuolo said he is a ‘game-changer’ for the team.

Leading a team that is currently 1-5-3 is Roydhouse’s next obstacle. The program is under new leadership, but it is off to one of its worst offensive starts in program history. That’s where Roydhouse hopes his talent, combined with all of the experiences leading up to this point, will come in handy.

Already, his influence on his younger teammates is particularly strong. Freshman Robbie Hughes has started growing his own rattail. Although Roydhouse has a healthy head start, Hughes wants to match the older player by next season.

Further emulation is unlikely, but McIntyre does admire the New Zealander’s style.

A rattail, that’s a stretch some brave soul can undertake. Becoming that player with a bull’s-eye on your back every second you are on the field, it’s not for everyone.

For his entire career, Roydhouse has been that guy. That guy who elicits a hint of comical jealousy from those who admittedly can’t stumble into what he has become: Syracuse’s premier offensive threat.

Even perhaps the main guy who accepted him into this country.

‘I don’t think it would look particularly good on me,’ McIntyre said. ‘But I’m just jealous.’

alguggen@syr.edu