Basketball teammate Alex Ogundadegbe takes full credit for the relationship match between Rob Mansell BS '14, MS '15 and soccer player Connie Gormley '15.
It was fall 2011 and Mansell was prepping for his sophomore basketball season. Gormley was in the midst of her freshman season on BU's soccer back line. Their paths had crossed casually on campus, during each of the all-too-few times Mansell attended Spanish class, he recalls.
Of course, there was a general mutual knowledge, with Mansell being a rising standout and eventual leading scorer on the basketball team, and Gormley quickly settling into an elite soccer career.
Ogundadegbe played matchmaker and posed the connection to his friend, Gormley.
"I asked Connie who she thought was cute on the basketball team … and I asked her about Rob," he says. "She was intrigued. From there, I let Rob know and the rest is history."
Assisting in the initial connection was Gormley's serendipitous discovery of Mansell's student ID, which he had lost outside one of the dorms in Mountainview. She turned it over to Ogundadegbe and Mansell sent her a note on Facebook to say thanks and saving him the hassle and cost of getting a new ID. All she asked in return was for him to bake her a chocolate cake.
"He thought I was joking about the cake and we kept talking from there," she says. "The thing is … I wasn't joking and he never made it for me. I still bring it up."
First date and changing of the seasons
Just over a week later, the two went on their first official date when they saw Paranormal Activity 3 on Halloween night. Gormley still has the faded ticket stub. One day earlier, her first collegiate soccer season came to an end with BU's 2-1 loss to nationally-ranked Boston University in the America East semifinals. That defeat wrapped up a hectic 12-week season for Gormley, who earned All-Rookie honors. November now put Mansell on center stage as his team began their 4+ month campaign with an exhibition win over Mansfield one week later.
Juggling the time commitments of two sports whose seasons seem to be at odds was an initial challenge.
"A downside of dating a college basketball player is their schedule," Gormley says. "I knew their season was long … but Rob couldn't go home for Thanksgiving, winter break or most of summer break, which was hard," she says. "Then once his summer sessions were finally over and he was back home, I was usually getting ready to head back to Binghamton for preseason."
Both were intense competitors, another reason Ogundadegbe thought they would be a good match.
Getting serious
The pair went to movies (Gormley has all the stubs), ate food and hung out as the fall semester wound down. When did each know it was serious?
"I think it became serious right at the semester break," Gormley says. "We hadn't even discussed exchanging gifts for the holidays but Rob got me a present and wrote me a sweet note on a post-it that I still have today. Then over break we visited each other a few times and by the start of the spring semester, I think we both knew this was it."
Mansell's "ah-ha" moment happens to be more visceral and less time specific. His words have been sanitized in keeping with student-athlete guidelines at Binghamton.
"I was in an establishment one night and when Connie walked in, I experienced a sort of 'out-of-body' event, kind of star-struck in a way," he says. "If you've ever seen 'Not Another Teen Movie' when the 'hot chick' enters the room and everything pauses and there's this angelic light beaming on her as her hair flows in the wind … and when she finishes her entrance, everyone carries on as they were. That's what it was like when Connie walked in."
Movie scenes aside, what was it that drew this pair to one another?
"Rob's athleticism, confidence and charm," Connie answers. "Once we started talking, I learned he also has a great sense of humor."
As for Rob? "Initially it was her fun, outgoing personality," he says. "It's hard for me to make new friends but I was drawn to her and we hit it off from the very beginning. As I got to know her better, I was able to see how warm and compassionate she is – two areas where I really struggle."
As with other 'Cat Couples, the pair had a natural bond over their love and dedication to their sport.
"Basketball consumed me," Rob says. "So it was healthy for me to have Connie as a safe outlet where the stresses of losing, two-a-days and perpetual exhaustion couldn't find me."
"I just loved having someone who was going through the same thing as I was," she says. "Someone who understood the pressure of excelling in a sport while balancing academics and a life outside of school and sports."
In the fall of 2012, Gormley started on a back line that recorded six shutouts and a 1.05 goals against average. Often times, Mansell joined Gormley's parents in the stands at home games, watching a sport he didn't fully understand, but enjoying the opportunity to get to know the people who would become his future in-laws.
Mansell career cut short; Gormley gains prestigious department honor
Mansell's 2013-14 season was cut short after eight games when he went down with a knee injury in an early December game at Mt. St. Mary's. With his second straight season derailed by injury, Mansell made the tough choice to close his playing career.
After earning his bachelor's degree in geography and urban planning, he stayed at Binghamton in 2014-15, served as a graduate assistant with the basketball program and earned his master's degree in urban planning. He rehabbed his knee and even entertained football scholarship offers from FBS programs with the expectation of being granted an NCAA waiver for a sixth year of eligibility.
Gormley's senior season in 2014 featured a repeat all-conference selection. Both players were celebrated with BU's senior class that May of 2015, with Gormley earning the Jessie Godfrey Award for career achievement and leadership – one of the department's most prestigious awards.
After Binghamton, converging in NYC
After Mansell committed to Utah to play safety, the couple headed to Salt Lake City in July 2015 on an uncharted, two-week cross-country trip. Starting in Philadelphia, they made stops in Chicago, Cleveland, Sioux Falls, Mount Rushmore, Yellowstone, Grand Tetons – all without plans or reservations, literal or figurative.
"That trip was a lot of fun and we definitely learned more about each other," Gormley says.
Rob spent the rest of the summer working out with the Utah team, prepping for fall camp and the start of more graduate classes. But that plan was abruptly nixed when the NCAA denied his waiver.
Mansell returned to Philadelphia and began looking for jobs in New York City to be closer to Gormley, who enrolled at LIU Post for dietitian school and commuted from her family home in Rockland County. He took an analyst position with the City of New York and he and Gormley saw each other every weekend in NYC or at one of their parents' houses.
She completed her degree in June 2018, got a job in the Bronx the next month and the couple moved in together in October. He switched to commercial real estate banking and joined Bank of America Merrill Lynch, where he has been for the last two-and-a-half years. Gormley now is approaching her two-year work anniversary as a clinical dietitian with the Montefiore Medical Center in the Bronx.
Football, France and future plans
Meanwhile, in the winter of 2018, Mansell and legions of Philadelphia Eagles fans were locked into an historic season that culminated in the team's first Super Bowl title. Mansell, a Philly native, hardcore football fan and no stranger to hyperbole, refers to this as one of the greatest stretches of time in the history of the universe.
Would Gormley say the same? Born and raised a New York sports fan in Rockland County, she made the somewhat controversial conversion from royal blue to the midnight green and black of the Eagles.
"My dad is a big Giants fan and he was disappointed I was trading in my roots," she says."
The fact that her dad went to Villanova and has a soft spot for Philly might've helped her cause. Connie now admits she's been turned into an Eagles and Sixers fan.
"I'm not sure if Connie was truly a diehard fan before that season but when she experienced that run, she saw the pride and passion of Philadelphia," Mansell says.
Both of them also are fans of family and travel, so one of their favorite memories was in March 2019, when the couple joined Rob's family for a memorable trip to Paris and London. For Mansell, whose aunt once lived in Paris, and where former teammate Moussa Camara calls home, it was a return trip to France and one that only heightened his love for the country and its culture.
Gormely was happy to see Notre Dame as it turns out, just weeks before the devastating fire.
Last February 22, the couple made if official with their engagement. They went to a private dinner in the West Village and then Mansell brought her to a surprise party in Midtown, where family and close friends shared the celebration. Their wedding is set for November 21, 2021 in Philadelphia.
What makes them tick
Like everyone else, the pair is navigating their way through COVID-19, with each missing family and regular routine. She leaves their Manhattan apartment every day as a frontline medical professional while he is temporarily at home for his work in the financial realm.
Friends say Rob and Connie were built for compatibility and flexibility – good attributes under quarantine and in marriage.
"They are both very laid back and just go with the flow," former soccer teammate
Aly Falinski says. "They are also very caring people who are always there for each other and their friends and family."
"They have a similar sense of humor and like to travel and have fun," Ogundadegbe adds.
Final hurdle
The only conflict yet to be resolved is one of routine. Mansell is a night owl while Gormley is a morning person.
"She's always trying to have full blown conversations with me as soon as I wake up," he says. "Like, give me 10 minutes to gather myself."
There have been widespread discussions and a call for outside mediation. Any suggestions?
