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By Mackala Krichbaum, KrichbaumM@Findlay.edu
Coach Andrew Smyth believed this year’s men’s soccer team had something special. He found out that their hard work led them to be the first men’s soccer team in the history of the University of Findlay to take home the Great Midwest Athletic Conference title.
Saturday, Nov. 16 UF’s men’s soccer team was set to play Kentucky Wesleyan for the third time this season.
Previously Kentucky Wesleyan had won matchup one with a score of 2-0 and UF took matchup two with a score of 4-0.
Looking to continue to improve every game Smyth credits his players for believing in themselves.
“Well, I think it just came with belief,” Smyth said. “We didn’t really know how good we were going to be to start off with. We knew we were going to be pretty good because we had a really good group of returning players; we had a good incoming class of players. But you have to kind of prove that this is a group that can get together and play as a team.”
Each tournament game brought a new challenge and allowed the team to apply themselves in various ways.
“The biggest thing was applying for our potential because there have been times during the season when we’ve kind of relaxed,” Smyth said. “In the first time against Thomas Moore, we tied them previously and we were the number two seed.”
To prepare for different games, the team looks over film to see how to improve.
“We went back and looked to the film. With Kentucky Wesleyan, we played them two times and they beat us the first time. So, we didn’t really change anything the second time we played them,” Smyth said. “We just emphasized to the guys that we wanted to make sure we got the mentality right; we didn’t overlook them. So, we beat them in the second time in the regular season and then in the championship game, I think we’ve probably focused more on ourselves.”
Going into the GMAC tournament this was the chance that the Men’s Soccer team had a chance to write history, and they did.
“It’s just a good feeling. I mean, probably the biggest thing I mentioned to a couple of people was just, you know, seeing the sort of the joy on the player’s faces because they were all very excited. They’re all, you know, hugging, jumping, laughing, you know, it’s just a very good experience once that final whistle went and everybody kind of, you know, got together. Our guys, the guys on the bench, got the guys on the field and just celebrated. So, it was just a great moment,” said Smyth.
This team is the first to bring home a conference title for Men’s Soccer in school history.
“Well, it’s great. Once we started the tournament, that was our goal, to do something that nobody else had done,” Smyth said. “Hopefully the program will win more championships in the future, but what we told the guys is that if you win this one you will always be the first. No one else is going to be able to say that other than you. So, we did realize it could be a historic moment.”
Looking ahead into the NCAA tournament, the Oilers will face Maryville in Saint Louis Missouri on Nov. 23. Tune into the live action through the University of Findlay’s Men’s Soccer team on the athletics website.
