Kyle Symczak Named SCAC Men’s Soccer Coach of the Year
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, 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, 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. 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.
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.
A link to the Gents' complete schedule can be found here: https://www.gocentenary.com/sports/msoc/2020-21/schedule.
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