Bisons head to GSC tournament for the first time Junior forward Odie Guzman defends the ball from a University of Alabama-Huntsville player Oct. 6 during a home match. The Bisons defeated the UAH Chargers 2-0. [Craig Rainbolt] UNPRECEDENTED For the first time in the program’s history, the Harding University men’s soccer team made it to the Gulf South Conference (GSC) tournament in Pensacola, Florida, on November 2. The Bisons reached the semi-finals of the tournament where they faced off against theWest Florida Argonauts.Despite an impressive second half, the Bisons lost by one. Senior Brock Williams had three shots at goal in the second half and sophomore James Thurmond, Harding’s goalie, had seven saves during the first half. Williams andThurmond were named to the All-Gulf South Conference Tournament Team along with junior Odie Guzman. The team said they were greatly honored to go to the tournament and saw the trip as a way to set the standards for future teams at Harding. “It was great to pave the way for other teams later in the future,”Guzman said. “Not too many people, especially these days, have the opportunity to say that they were part of the first team ever in the school’s soccer program to make it to conference tournament. To me, it was an honor to help my teammates make it that far.” Sophomore defender Jay Skinner said that what set the Harding team apart from the others in the tournament was their heart that they brought to the field. “We have a reputation for always playing our hardest no matter who our opponent is,” Skinner said. “When we saw that we had a chance to go to the tournament, we just laid it all on the line and played our best. Now we’ve earned a lot more respect from some of the teams in our conference.” Even though the team lost, the positive attitudes of the players kept morale high. “Many players stepped up and took a leadership role when we were all down because of some of the losses that we had,” Guzman said. “There was a point when all of us could have called it quits, but they all wanted to fight and win until the bitter end for each of their teammates. That was one of the big changes that I saw that helped us reach the tournament.” [Katie White] [men’s soccer] 273
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