The
2000 Pride men’s soccer team got off to one of the best starts in Greensboro
College history, racing to a 4-0 record. During that period, GC outscored
its opponents, 26-2.
The year culminated with
a trip to the NCAA Tournament. It was the seventh consecutive season that
Greensboro College reached the prestigous NCAA playoffs.
The Pride finished second
in the Dixie Conference regular season. GC then faced Ferrum in the first
round of the DIAC Tournament. Greensboro—which tied the Panthers earlier
in the year—beat Ferrum in convincing fashion, 4-0.
In the DIAC final, GC made
its second trip in one week to play at Christopher Newport. The Pride avenged
an earlier overtime loss to the Captains by winning, 2-1.
As the Dixie Tournament
champions, GC won an automatic berth to the NCAA playoffs. In the first
round, Greensboro drew Virginia Wesleyan in a midweek contest at Pride
Field.
Greensboro defeated
the Marlins 3-2, and moved on to the South Region Final
Four.
The Pride was then matched
against DIAC foe CNU for the third time in three weeks at the Captains’
home field. Before 1,000 fans, GC got off to a 2-0 lead. Yet Christopher
Newport scored the next four goals and won, 4-2.
“We played our best soccer
of the season in the first half,” said Pride Head Coach Darren
Powell. “But I give a lot of credit to CNU. They played an outstanding
second half. No doubt the fans saw incredible soccer between these two
teams this year.”
Despite the exit from the
postseason, 2000 will go into the books as another highly successful campaign.
In addition to the team accolades,
a number of GC players had outstanding years. Brandon Overby ended
his Pride career with 90 points—second on the all-time list. The Greensboro
native scored 10 goals and had 18 assists—breaking the GC assist record.
Duncan Edwards also
broke Pride records. He scored a Greensboro record 25 goals in 2000,
and set a new single season point total of 52.
“The future is bright,”said
Powell. “We had a young team this year. Our goals will be very high for
next season.”
--PRIDE--
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