Knoch product contributes to Gannon's NCAA tournament run

For the past three years, senior Ben Andrews and his Gannon men’s soccer teammates have been working towards playing in the NCAA Division II men’s soccer tournament.

Earlier this week, the Knights got the news that not only did they earn a bid, but they received the No. 2 seed in Super Region 1 and would have the opportunity to host first- and second-round games.

After 10th-seeded Assumption defeated seventh-seeded West Chester, 2-1, on Friday, the Knights are set for a second-round matchup with the Greyhounds.

“It’s pretty exciting, and it’s been our goal for the last three years, just to even make it to the tournament. So to be hosting is an amazing achievement for the program,” said Andrews, a Knoch product.

Andrews said the Knights’ progress during his time at Gannon has been obvious. In 2017, they went 11-7-1 and played in their first PSAC championship.

A year later, Gannon went 10-6-2 and lost in penalty kicks in the first round of the PSAC tournament.

This year, the Knights went 17-2 (9-1 PSAC) but lost in the PSAC championship again. But Andrews believes his team has what it takes to make an NCAA run.

“Anyone that’s been on the team, we’ve kind of seen this progression in how the coaching staffs have transformed the program,” Andrews said. “We’ve ended every season really disappointed because we knew we could do something like this.”

Andrews, a 5-foot-7 forward, has played in all 19 games, starting six. He has scored a career-high seven goals this season with two assists. Three of those seven goals were winners.

“You have to be much more focused,” Andrews said about the difference between starting and coming off the bench. “You still have to get ready for the game, but you then you also have to be ready to go on at any time. It takes a lot of mental toughness.”

Just like any player, Andrews wanted to play as much as possible when he got to Gannon. He wanted to be on the pitch all 90 minutes. But as time wore on, he started to accept his role.

His mindset changed from wanting to play every minute to wanting to take advantage of every minute he played and doing whatever it took to help the team win.

“It was honestly a great growing and learning experience for me,” Andrews said. “You realize it shifts your perspective, and you are more focused on the team. When you come on, you’ll take any minutes you can get, and you’re focused on just trying to do anything to help the team out.”

On Sunday, the Knights will put that mindset to the test, and Andrews said they just have to stick to what they know.

“I think the big thing for us is just to keep playing our game,” Andrews said. “The whole year we’ve had certain principles that we’ve based our game on. We always want to out fight the other team and outwork them but also just play our game, play within ourselves and know who we are on the field.”

Gannon and Assumption play at noon Sunday at McConnell Family Stadium.