After the men’s soccer team beat Great Lakes Christian College on Sept. 4 and D’Youville College on Sept. 6, sophomore captain Dalton Taynor, an elementary education and intervention specialist double major, was named HCAC Offensive Player of the Week. Taynor scored three goals, had one assist against Great Lakes Christian and had a goal against D’Youville.
“I think that in both of those games we were able to execute our game plans really well,” Taynor said. “Our scouting reports were dead on, and my teammates were able to get me the ball when the time came, eventually leading to my hat-trick in the game against Great Lakes Christian and the game-winning goal against D’ Youville.”
Head Men’s Soccer Coach Sean Elvert said he thinks this award will help boost the team’s confidence going forward, noting that the game-winning goal against D’Youville came from a 10-pass buildup starting in their own half.
“Those opportunities don’t come without the assistance and buildup from others,” Elvert said. “I think it goes a long way for our whole program to show that, yes, there might be individual awards at stake but at the same time the greatest thing at stake is our win and loss record. So those individual accolades go a long way in building confidence for everybody, but at the same time I think that it’s an award that Dalton earned.”
Elvert views Taynor as a strong attacking player, calling him a “true finisher and true attacker.”
“I think Dalton plays with a chip on his shoulder,” Elvert said. “He’s a guy who firmly believes in himself and his abilities and doesn’t like being overlooked and believes that he should have a little more respect within the conference and from opponents than they might give him.”
Taynor has scored six goals and has two assists so far, but still has a lot he wants to accomplish this season, including breaking the record for most goals scored in a season, being named HCAC Player of the Year and winning the conference tournament.
“This season I am looking forward to shocking everyone in our conference and making it to the conference tournament,” Taynor said. “I think that our program is looked down upon by the other schools, but we are going to show them how far we have come.”
Elvert echoed this idea, saying that his team is in pursuit of the first .500 record since 2008 and the first winning record in over 25 years.
“We want to be relevant,” Elvert said. “We want to be a program that people know about, whether it’s with recruiting or just teams being aware of what we possess and what we can accomplish. We want teams to come to us, or for us to go to them, and expect a quality game and a quality performance.”
The Beavers are currently 3-3, with their next game Friday, Sept. 20 against Blackburn in St. Louis. Their next home game is Wednesday, Sept. 25, against Wooster.
