Ryan Soroka never planned on spending four years at St. John’s University. Nothing against the school or the nationally ranked men’s soccer program, but the talented forward figured his professional career would have started by now.
Soroka was right; he left St. John’s following his junior season. But instead of playing professionally or closing out a stellar career for the Red Storm, Soroka is working for UPS in his native Langhorne, Pa., taking online courses to complete his college degree.
“I’m still trying to stay out there and stay in shape hopefully trying to make it somewhere, get a few tryouts,” Soroka told The Post. “I still would love to play professionally. I’m not giving up. Just sometimes you have to take a different route. I have to take a different path.”
Soroka chose that path, a much more difficult one, because of a conflict with Red Storm coach Dave Masur, although he declined to elaborate on the cause of the rift.
“I’m not here to start anything or cause any conflicts or anything like that,” Soroka said. “That’s a personal thing between me and coach. I’ve seen a bunch of different things out there, but that’s kind of what it is.”
Indeed, posters on message boards theorized that Masur kicked Soroka off the team, or that he was suffering from a heart problem.
Soroka said he did have a medical issue, one he realized “accidentally” during a game last season against Villanova.
“I was wearing a heart monitor and kind of caught something as I was playing,” he said. “It kind of kicks in whenever. It was like arrhythmia.”
Soroka said he took dozens of tests to find out why his heart rate raced at random times. He said he’s been given a clean bill of health and his condition will not affect his soccer-playing future.
“Doctors said I’m perfectly fine to play, no reason to be worried or anything like that,” Soroka said. “I still definitely want to play and hopefully I can play professionally somewhere.”
Masur also refused to discuss Soroka’s departure.
“We can’t really comment on that,” Masur said. “He’s not an active member of our roster.”
Three years ago, Soroka arrived on the Jamaica campus with much fanfare, considered the most highly touted recruit in Masur’s nearly two decades as coach. Soroka attended the IMG Soccer Academy in Bradenton, Fla., was a two-time Parade All-American, and a regular starter on the United States Under-17 National Team.
The speedy, shifty and technically sound Soroka lived up to those expectations as a freshman, starting all 22 games, scoring nine goals and setting up eight others.
“I thought I had a pretty good chance of going [pro] after my freshman year, but I don’t know what happened,” Soroka said.
Sources say Major League Soccer was interested, with Soroka being placed on a Generation adidas watch list. But nothing materialized.
“I was not told anything about that,” Soroka said of a potential MLS contract offer. “I heard from a lot of people that I was offered something, but I never actually received an offer.”
Instead, Soroka returned to St. John’s for his sophomore season, which proved to be a disappointment.
After playing up front as a freshman, Soroka was used as a wide midfielder last year. Though his offensive numbers significantly decreased — he had two goals and two assists in 26 appearances — Soroka said he was pleased with his performance as a junior.
“My sophomore year was nowhere near my freshman year and my junior year I spent the whole year out wide,” Soroka said. “I was put in a different situation. I felt like I was doing a lot of the busy work, opened my horizons a lot more defensively.”
But all the while, Soroka and Masur clashed, according to sources close to the program. Finally, after not playing during the spring season, Soroka decided to leave St. John’s, one of a handful of high profile players to leave the team in recent years.
“It was a progression, I guess you can say that,” Soroka said, referring to his conflict with Masur. “I’m not really going to get into details.”
The Red Storm is in Bloomington, Ind., preparing to open the season against No. 7 Indiana. Soroka, meanwhile, is back home in Pennsylvania, delivering packages as he waits on a chance to play professionally.
Regrets? Soroka has a few.
“If I had it another way, I probably would have tried a little harder to go pro right away instead of going to college,” Soroka said. “You see a lot of success stories from kids who went to college, but I just feel like I wish that was something I pushed harder for.”
Soroka plans on following his former teammates from afar, as he tries to keep himself in shape. The Philadelphia Union will join MLS as an expansion team next year and reportedly John Hackworth, Soroka’s former coach on the U.S. U-17 National Team, has been hired as an assistant coach.
That could be the break Soroka is hoping for.
“That’s something I’m definitely looking into,” Soroka said. “I’d love to play in my hometown. It’s a dream, definitely something I want to do. I don’t want to be overconfident, but it’s something I have a good shot at.”
dbutler@nypost.com