Statesmen Soccer Game Notes - Week 9 (PDF)
CLEVELAND - The Statesmen soccer team wraps up the regular season this weekend with a match at Union before returning home to face Christian Brothers in the regular-season finale and “Senior Day” on Sunday.
The Statesmen will look to avenge a 5-3 loss to Union and a 3-0 loss to Christian Brothers that came earlier this season.
Postseason bound
Statesmen soccer is headed to the postseason for the first time in the program's nine year history after clinching a guarantee of at least the fourth seed in the Gulf South Conference Tournament with a victory over West Alabama last weekend.
The feat marks a huge stepping stone for second year head coach Matt Watts and the Statesmen soccer program. This season's squad has won as many conference matches (4) as the previous eight seasons combined.
Da Silva amongst nations best
Caue Da Silva has set or is on pace to break almost every freshman and Statesmen offensive record this season. Da Silva already holds claim to the records for points, goals, game-winning goals, shots and shots on goal in a season.
Da Silva's three goals this past weekend put the freshman into fifth nationally in goals and goals per game and tenth in points and points per game. He is the top freshman in each category and tops the GSC as well.
Freshmen making huge impact
The 2012 freshmen class for the Statesmen has made a large impact with nine different freshman contributing thus far this season. The class has been highlighted by Da Silva's play, but the remainder of the freshman have still been heavy contributors.
In total, the freshmen Statesmen have totaled two-thirds of the offensive statistics. The class has combined for 68 of 100 points with 26 goals and 15 assists. The freshmen have 66 of the 100 shots on goal this season for the Statesmen. Both goalkeepers for DSU this season are freshman and have helped the team to its best season in history.
Senior captain moving up all-time lists
Steven Simmons added a pair of assists last weekend to help push the senior up the all-time rankings for the Statesmen. Simmons now sits in third place on the all-time assist list as a Statesmen.
The Liverpool, England native also moved up to seventh on the all-time points list and he also sits in seventh in career goals for Delta State.
Against the states
The Statesmen are playing a team from the state of Tennessee for the third and fourth time this season. This season, the Statesmen are 0-2-0 against the border state to the north. Delta State is 9-28-3 against the “Volunteer State” all time.
