Pitch Perfect
From Kenyon News - November 22, 2016
A talented group of seniors led the 2016 Lords soccer team through yet another impressive season. One win shy of reaching the NCAA Final Four, the Lords’ thrilling postseason run ended with a heartbreaking, double-overtime, 1-0 loss to Tufts University.
The nine seniors, headed by starters Tony Amolo ’17, Sam Clougher ’17, Dalton Eudy ’17, Jordan Glassman ’17, Josh Lee ’17 and David Resnekov ’17, carried the Lords to a final record of 20-3-0, a mark that set the program’s single-season record for wins, surpassing the 19 wins tallied by last year’s team as well as the 1990 team.
The loss to Tufts occurred in the quarterfinal round of the NCAA Division III tournament, marking the fourth-straight season the Lords reached at least the third round of the national bracket and the second-straight season in which they attained a spot in the Elite Eight. During that same four-year span, the Lords produced a combined record of 73-12-6, for an astounding winning percentage of .835.
The past season was packed full of highlights, including the team’s third consecutive North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) tournament title. The Lords also secured their second-straight and eighth overall NCAC regular-season title.
Throughout the season, various national polls had the Lords ranked within the top-five teams in the country, while the NCAA ranking displayed the Lords as the top team in the Great Lakes region.
The Lords countered their three losses with winning streaks of eight and 12 games. After knocking off DePauw University and Oberlin College in the NCAC tournament, the Lords advanced to NCAA tournament play. They took to the road to eliminate Maryville College and No. 11-ranked Lynchburg College in the first two rounds of national completion. The following weekend, the Kenyon men produced a stunning 4-0 defeat of No. 3-ranked Trinity University before being upended by Tufts the next day.
Clougher, the team’s goalkeeper, and Glassman, a forward, were selected to the All-NCAC team. Woo Jeon ’18, Alberto Carmona ’19, Oliver Wynn ’18 and Bret Lowry ’19 joined them, and Henry Myers ’18 was named the NCAC’s Defensive Player of the Year. Billy O’Neill ’18, a defender, and Clougher were both selected to the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) Academic All-District team, while Clougher advanced to become the program’s third Academic All-American in the past three seasons.
Clougher also exits the program as the Kenyon record-holder for shutouts in a single season (15) and in a career (45). His career goals against average of 0.63 ranks first all-time among Kenyon goalkeepers who logged at least 2,500 minutes of playing time. On the other side of the field, Amolo departs with 50 career goals and 121 career points. Both those outputs rank third in program history. Nearly half (21) of Amolo’s goals were game-winners.
Coach Chris Brown, who just completed his 12th season at Kenyon and owns the most coaching wins in program history, now sports an overall record of 150-61-26.