 "Photo: Ron Besser")
The University of West Florida men’s soccer team completed their season with their fourth straight Gulf South Conference Championship win and an overall record of 11-6-2.
Although they were not selected for the National College Athletic Association Tournament, head coach Bill Elliott said that he is still pleased with the season overall.
“It was a good season as far as building a foundation for our future,” Elliott said. “We were competitive in all our matches and won a conference championship.”
Since the team is a fairly young team with only one player graduating, Elliott said the players have time to grow.
“We’re a very young team with only one senior, so I think both the experience of winning a championship and the experience of being left out of the NCAA tournament are going to make us mentally more prepared for future seasons,” he said. “We put ourselves in a position to be considered for the NCAA championship, but just missed out on the selection.”
Even though it was disappointing that the team was not selected for the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2004, Elliott sees it as an opportunity for growth as a team.
“It’s frustrating, but it motivates me, and hopefully motivates the players, to work harder,” Elliott said.
In addition to a successful season as a team, many individual players were recognized for their accomplishments. Four players were selected for the Daktronics NCAA Division II All-South Region Second Team and the All-Gulf South Conference First Team, and two players were selected for the All-GSC Second Team.
Sophomore Richard Dixon was named GSC Player of the Year, the program’s first in over 10 years. Awards also included two selections for the GSC All-Tournament Team.
“We’ve had eight different players recognized. We only play with 11, so to have eight recognized is good,” Elliott said.
The coach said he’s pleased with his team’s awards because the recognition goes throughout the team instead of just to one player.
“What I’m really happy about is that we’re a good enough team that it’s not just one player getting all the recognition,” he said. “We have a lot of players that contribute to our success.”
As far as next year goes, Coach Elliott doesn’t plan on doing anything differently. He said his plan is to continue to develop the players he has and try to recruit new team members.
“I think we’re going to be competitive for the conference championship and the NCAA tournament,” Elliott said. “I think we’re going to be right there in the mix.”
Although he said there are no guarantees for next year, he hopes to accomplish a lot.
“We certainly would hope to achieve as much as we have achieved this year, and more,” he said.
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