by Craig “Mac” McElveen
contributor
The success of Millsaps athletics continued recently with another accomplishment on campus. This time it was the Majors men’s soccer team, clinching the SAA regular season championship with a 4-0 win against Birmingham-Southern in the season finale at Harper Davis Field on Nov. 2.
This past weekend at the SAA tournament, the Majors collected wins over Hendrix and Centre in the quarterfinal and semifinal rounds, respectively. Unfortunately, the top-seeded Majors dropped a 3-1 decision to third-seeded Oglethorpe in the championship match on Sunday. Still, with a final record of 12-6-2, the Majors accomplished the most wins in program history.
Freshman Conner Bancroft said, “We had high expectations in the beginning of season, even though the team hasn’t had success in the past. We would be selling ourselves short if we didn’t set our goals high.”
Fellow freshman Gregory Hurley noted, “Our hardest task was maintaining the hard work ethic we created even when we had taste of success. It’s easy to get content with what you have rather than work harder than you did yesterday.”
Key players included Lukas Elmhammer and Nico Roth. Elmhammer finished the season second in the conference with 10 goals scored. Roth finished atop the conference with eight assists. The Majors were an aggressive offensive club, averaging the most shots on goal of any team in the conference.
With the majority of the playing rotation being underclassmen, the future of the program appears bright. First year Head Coach Steve Voltz has the program ascending quicker than anticipated. His international recruiting capabilities are already paying dividends, bringing in players such as Roth and goalkeeper Johnathan Huebbe. The Majors are in good shape to build on this season’s success and win more conference championships in the near future.
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