Men's Soccer Beyond the Numbers 12-17-2020

Men's Soccer

Beyond the Numbers: Silence the crowd! 2015 Tigers set the standard for years to come

'Beyond the Numbers' is a new series on www.CampbellsvilleTigers.com of feature articles sharing stories the go beyond the championships, stats and records. Read first-person experiences from CU coaches, student-athletes and alums from their favorite memories as a CU Tiger.

In 2015, the men's soccer team placed themselves among one of the most talented teams to play for Coach Adam Preston.
 
The Tigers were able to score 100 goals while 65 were assisted on. Campbellsville had six different players with hat tricks and a team-high five goals in one match from Marco Galeano coming against Pikeville in the conference tournament.
 
Four players were able to net in the double digits in Marcelo Petit (17), Galeano (13), Guilherme Fanck (12), and Guilherme Cheng (12). Of those team leaders in goals, Fanck led the way in shots on goal percentage. Fanck was on frame 76 percent of the time (19-of-25) while 12 of those shots were goals. 
 
On the defensive side of the ball keeper Gonzalo Sapena had 85 saves while only allowing 15 goals in total. The back four of Chris Moyo, Yono Lobulu, Daniel Nimmo, and Gabrielle DeFreitas held opponents to only 119 shots on goal the entire season. 
 
"That year the mentality of the team was strong where we had competition for all spots," said now Lady Tigers head coach Alex Adams who was the assistant for the Tigers in 2015. "We had 24 guys that saw playing time and all of them were good enough to be able to be on the pitch."
 
Campbellsville found its only two losses early in the season. At the time losing, 1-0, to No. 10 Indiana Wesleyan and then Bethel College, 4-1, the next day. From this point on the team would outscore their opponents 75-8 over the final 16 games of the season. 
 
A highlighted match for the program came on October 21, 2015 when the Tigers defeated Lindsey Wilson for the first time in program history, 3-0. Petit and Fanck were the lone scorers. Petit set the tone early in the second minute while Fanck's goals came within a two minute span in the 53rd and 55th minute, respectively.  
 
"We came out with zero fear," said Alex Higdon, a junior on the 2015 squad and current assistant coach for the women's program. "Compared to years past where Campbellsville had never beat Lindsey Wilson we felt this year was the turning point." 

"The atmosphere was insane and I would venture to say that everyone remembers that match."
 
Less than two weeks later the program won their first Mid-South Conference regular season title with a 13-0 win over Pikeville. Galeano picked up a big portion of his goals in this game when he was able to net four goals and had one assist on the day. This was the first match where the Tigers played all 24 players on the roster. 
 
Campbellsville was able to produce 10 all-conference selections featuring: Guilherme Cheng, Ryan Foster, Alex Higdon, Ross Lindsay, Yona Labulu, Chris Moyo, Daniel Nimmo, Marcelo Petit, Alex Ryan, and Gonzalo Sapena.
 
"That team was something special. Instead of 14 or 15 guys that could potentially start that year, you had the entire roster of 24 guys that could have started," said long-time head coach Adam Preston. "We were a second half team. As long as it was close at halftime, we had numerous weapons that season to where we could switch a formation or bring in a fresh pair of legs and still have the same amount of quality on the field as the starters."
 
The Tigers did prove to be that second half team when they scored 63 percent of their goals in the second 45 minutes of the match. They created 77 corner kicks as well as 281 total shots when it came to the second half minutes.

"The simple shift from a flat 4-4-2 formation to a 4-3-2-1 diamond is what would confuse a lot of teams," said Preston. 
 
One of the best performances came in a win-or-go-home match in the NAIA Opening Round when the Tigers hosted West Virginia Tech at Finley Stadium following the Lady Tigers match against Ashland University. This day produced some of the worst weather conditions for both clubs. The starting temperature was 37 degrees with winds at a consistent 30 mph and gusts up to 40 meant for precise passes and smart play throughout the match. 
 
The old saying, "2-0 is the worst lead to have in soccer" came true that day for the Golden Bears.

"A service from midfield could be considered a legitimate shot attempt," said Higdon.

West Virginia Tech hit the score sheet first early in the match followed by a second goal soon after to give them a 2-0 lead. Petit gave the Tigers a momentum shift late in the first half with a goal in the 32nd minute to go into halftime trailing, 2-1.
 
The second half Campbellsville let loose with the wind at their back adding three more goals to their total. Fanck came in and scored two goals within a few minutes of each other while Ross Lindsey had the final goal of the night coming in the 66th minute - making the score 4-2 at the final whistle. This win propelled the team to the NAIA Championship site in Delray Beach, Florida two weeks later.
 
The end of the season is something that no one looks forward to. The Tigers faced one of the toughest teams in the nation in Davenport University - which came into the championship site sitting at No. 4 in the country. A back and forth dual between the teams ensued that ended in a tie at the end of regulation. A winner was not able to be declared in overtime and it came down to the worst part of a win-or-go-home-match, penalty kicks. In the shootout Campbellsville came up short falling 5-4.
 
"The heat was on another level that day," said Preston. "A lot of our players were not accustomed to those conditions and we ended up bringing in our athletes whose bodies were used to the heat and were able to handle playing in the hot weather. If we were able to get out of the game with a victory, then we would have a lot of guys with fresh legs ready to go the next day to play again."
 
The Tigers capped off the postseason finishing at No. 12 in the Top 25 poll with three NAIA All-Americans in Chris Moyo, Gonzalo Sapena, Marcelo Petit and two NCCAA All-Americans in Ryan Foster and Sapena.


#BeyondTheNumbers Archives
2015 Men's Cross Country - (Dec. 7)
2015 Women's Soccer Team - (Dec 15)
 
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