Statesmen Soccer Game Notes (PDF)
PENSACOLA, Fla. - The Statesmen soccer team will play for the Gulf South Conference Championship on Sunday against Christian Brothers University. The Statesmen advanced to the championship game after defeating West Florida 3-2 on Friday in the program's first ever postseason game.
Third time around
The Statesmen will take on Christian Brothers for the third time this season. The Buccaneers (10-7-1, 7-4-1 GSC) has won both matches, but needed a late goal and then overtime to squeak by the Statesmen last Sunday.
Coach of the year
Statesmen head coach Matt Watts was named the Gulf South Conference Coach of the Year on Tuesday Oct. 30, marking the first time a Delta State soccer coach has received the award. Watts has led the team to its first GSC Tournament in program history this year after record-setting season.
GSC honors
For the first time in history, five Statesmen were named to the GSC First and Second teams. Caue Da Silva (Forward) and
Steven Simmons (Defender) were named All-GSC First team.
Daniel Deblaere,
Sebastian Ridout, and
Amine Rahmani were all named to the All-GSC Second team as midfielders.
The most Statesmen to make an appearance to the All-GSC team was two, occurring on four different occasions. It is also the first time the Statesmen have had two players named to the first team. The Statesmen had only two previous first team selections.
Leading by example
Steven Simmons has been the leader on and off the field for a very young squad. With over half (14) of the 26-man roster being newcomers in 2012, leadership of a young team was going to be a must for the Green-and-White. Simmons, a senior, took that role from the opening of camp. The midfielder and captain shifted to the backline for much of the season and has made a huge impact all over the field, scoring three goals and three assists in 17 matches during the regular season, while maintaining a strong defensive unit.
On Friday, Simmons carried the Statesmen into the championship game after scoring two goals against West Florida and making a huge defensive stop after goalkeeper
Mack Pytyck had been caught out of possession.
Not your ordinary freshman
Caue Da Silva became the first Statesmen in history to be named GSC Player of the Year or GSC Freshman of the Year when he was named to both awards on Tuesday. Da Silva was named a GSC Co-Player of the Year along with West Florida midfielder Richard Dixon.
The São Sebastião do Caí, Brazil native scored 15 goals in 17 games in the regular season and had a 31 total points. Da Silva lead the GSC in goals, goals per game, points, and points per game and ranks in the top 15 nationally in each category.
The biggest goal of the freshmen's career came Friday when he redirected a header shot from
Jack Pilley with his own header to score the game winning goal that put the Statesmen into the championship game.
Finding the right role
Daniel Deblaere has totaled a career-high 16 points this season after scoring four points on two goals in 2011. The switch to the outside for the midfielder this season has given the junior from Sydney, Australia a new role that has made a large impact in his second season under Matt Watts.
Deblaere has eight assists this year and scored his fourth goal of the season in the last match against Christian Brothers. He leads the GSC in assists and assists per game and ranks 11th and 24th in each of the categories nationally.
Striking first
The Statesmen have scored first in 14-of-19 matches in 2012, When the Statesmen have scored first, they have won seven matches, including Friday's defeat of West Florida. The Statesmen hold a 7-6-1 record overall when scoring first.
Against the states
The Statesmen are 0-4-0 against the state of Tennessee in 2012, including two losses to Christian Brothers. The Statesmen hold a 9-30-3 record against the Volunteer State all time.
