Kyle Symczak Named SCAC Men’s Soccer Coach of the Year; Record Number Three Gents Named All-SCAC
Centenary Head men's soccer coach Kyle Symczak has been named the 2020-21 Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference Men’s Soccer Coach of the Year, and three Gents were named to the All-SCAC team, the league office announced on Tuesday.
Lawrenceville, Ga. – Centenary Head men's soccer coach Kyle Symczak has been named the 2020-21 Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference Men's Soccer Coach of the Year, and three Gents were named to the All-SCAC team, the league office announced on Tuesday.
Symczak led the Gents to the 2020-21 SCAC Men's Soccer championship last month, as the Maroon and White claimed the tournament title on its home field after advancing in a penalty kick shootout over St. Thomas.
Sophomore MF Andres Bautista (Houston, Texas), junior D Diego Hernandez (Carrollton, Texas), and sophomore MF Jaron Petreas (Denton, Texas) each earned All-SCAC honors for the first time in their careers. Bautista earned First Team honors, Petreas was named to the Second Team, and Hernandez earned Honorable Mention recognition. This marks the first time that three Centenary players have been named All-SCAC as the previous high was two accomplished last season and in 2012 and 2016.
Symczak, who just completed his fifth season at the helm, becomes the first Centenary head coach in the division III era (2012-present) to be named SCAC Coach of the Year. He guided the Gents to their first appearance in the SCAC Championship in nine years and just their second all-time appearance in the event.
Centenary finished the regular season 3-5-1 and 3-4 in conference play and earned the No. 6 seed in the SCAC Championship. The Gents, fueled by a supportive home crowd over three days, knocked off No. 3 seed Colorado College 2-1 in the quarterfinals and then played No. 2 Southwestern to a scoreless draw after two overtimes and then advanced, 5-3 on penalty kicks to clinch their first title game appearance in program history.
The Gents then faced No. 5 seed St. Thomas in the championship game and amazingly and almost unbelievably, the teams played to a scoreless tie after a pair of overtimes to send the match to a PK shootout. Centenary bested the Celts, 3-1, as Petreas scored the winner to send Mayo Field into delirium and give the Gents the long-awaited championship.
Bautista, one of the most dynamic and skilled players in the conference, followed up his fantastic freshman campaign with a stellar sophomore season. He scored three goals this season, two in the regular season and then another in Centenary's quarterfinal victory over Colorado College. He added a pair of assists for a total of eight points and had one game-winning goal. He also connected on his PK attempt in the championship game versus St. Thomas.
Bautista made an immediate impact in his rookie season as he played in all 16 Centenary matches and made 14 starts and scored the game-winning goal in the Gents' home opener on Sept. 10, 2019 in a 1-0 win over LeTourneau. He scored six goals, which was second-most on the team, and ranked second on the team with three assists and 15 points. Bautista was named the SCAC Championship Offensive MVP and also named the SCAC Men's Soccer Offensive Player of the Week in March as he earned the honor for the first time in his career.
Hernandez was a lockdown defender all season as the leader of Centenary's formidable back line. The physical and steady sophomore started 11 matches this season and scored his first-career goal on April 10 at home versus Schreiner. He started 14 games as a sophomore last season and was named the SCAC Men's Soccer Defensive Player of the Week on Sept. 30, 2019 after he led a Gents back line that posted three shutouts at home from late September to early October, playing 250 of the 270 minutes in the three wins over Hendrix, Austin College, and Dallas.
Petreas started 15 games as a freshman last season but blossomed into one of the top offensive players in the conference this season. He started 11 games this season and tied Bautista for the team lead in goals with three. He added an assist for a total of seven points. He was named the SCAC Men's Soccer Offensive Player of the Week in March for the first time in his career.
Bautista and Petreas finished the season tied for sixth in the conference in goals and Bautista led the league in shots while Petreas finished tied for fifth. Bautista tied for eighth in points and assists. Bautista and Petreas tied for fourth in the SCAC with one game-winning goal each.
Centenary became the first No. 6 seed in SCAC Championship history to make the final and first to win it. The Gents were picked to finish eighth out of nine teams this past season in the preseason coaches' poll and are the second program in SCAC Tournament history to win the title on home soil, as Trinity also accomplished the feat back in 2012. The last men's soccer title for the Gents came in 1990 as members of the NCAA Division I Trans America Athletic Conference (now the ASUN Conference).
The Gents finished 4-1-3 at home this season and are 11-4-3 in their last 18 home matches at Mayo Field. Borchalli was named the Defensive Most Valuable Player for the championship while Bautista earned Offensive honors.
See the complete team here: https://www.scacsports.com/sports/msoc/all-SCAC/2020-21allscacmsoccer.pdf
Relive the Mayo Field Magic and the Gents' championship here: https://www.gocentenary.com/sports/msoc/2020-21/releases/20210425rf8jqn.
A link to the Gents' complete schedule can be found here: https://www.gocentenary.com/sports/msoc/2020-21/schedule.
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