The Men’s soccer team has gotten off to a good start this season going 4-4-0 and placing third in the Northwest Athletic Association of Community Colleges West Division. The best word to describe this new season is “change.” The team hired a new coach, Andrew Croft, who brought a whole new philosophy to the team and a new winning attitude.
Right now it seems to be working as the team is keeping in the hunt for playoffs. Croft does not believe in getting too excited or sad about where they are in the season: “I don’t like to think that I am happy or upset with where we are. I like to think that we have a goal and our goal is to make the playoffs and win the NWAACC tournament. We have to stick to that goal … every game that we play leads us to that goal.”
The team has already had an improvement over last year’s team which finished the year with a record of 2-8-3 and in last place in the NWACC West Division.
With the new philosophy Croft brings, all the players are now on equal terms: “Our second year players are almost in the boat of being first year players because it is a brand new coach, and brand new system, a brand new team. So they have to learn everything just like the first years do.”
Croft has his goals set high for this year. Croft knows the history BC has in men’s soccer: “Us and Skagit Valley are tied for the most titles in NWAACC conference history. Bellevue has a good legacy, so being able to come into a school with support and the history it has, being able to get it back to where it was is exciting.” His main goal is to take the tournament victory and put BC as the school with the most NWAACC titles of all time.
The team is starting strong on their journey for a playoff berth and an NWAACC title. Under new leadership from new Head Coach Andrew Croft, the team has all the weapons needed in order to accomplish their high goals.