Dennis praises 2-10 Skipjacks’ work ethic

WYE MILLS – The Skipjacks may not have had the skills to contend, but they certainly exhibited the heart to compete.

"My guys played hard and played as a team," said Chesapeake College head men's soccer coach Mark Dennis.  "We realized we were overmatched in skills and roster size and focused on being the best we could be."

The best by the Skipjacks was a significant improvement over last year's 0-11 club.  This season's squad went 2-10 and had a couple of other winnable games, including a 4-3 loss to Frederick Community College.

"Just getting the roster to 16 players was an accomplishment, but an ever better feat was that we kept all 16 guys for the entire season despite the 2-10 record and numerous lopsided losses," said Dennis.  "The players enjoyed their season and most said they improved their game."

Johnathan Walker led the Skipjacks offensively, scoring half of their 12 goals, while goalie Mace Davis notched his first two collegiate shutouts in Chesapeake's two winning efforts. 

"Johnathan Walker not only led the team in scoring, but also set the tone of play for us when he was on the field.  He always worked hard for us," said Dennis.  "Mace Davis did a great job for us in goal.  Just looking at the scores you wouldn't understand, but if you ever watched one of our games you were amazed by some of his saves."

Dennis also noted the exceptional contributions of four other Skipjacks.

"Chris Bramble and Justin Bathras played a lot of minutes for us this year despite being banged up and sore," said Dennis.  "Captains Jesse Zelinske and Adam Bowers really played their hearts out on defense.  Both would have scored goals if we could have played them in midfield, but they were needed on the back line."

While Dennis would have liked his team to experience more wins, he said perspective is needed to understand what the Skipjacks accomplished.

"So many of the other schools are loaded with foreign players that have played soccer as their primary sport, not only since they were very young, but all year long," observed Dennis.  "Most of our players tend to be local athletes who are multi-sport participants and soccer was just their fall past time.

"We are usually at least one or two skilled players shy of being able to compete against the top programs," said Dennis.  "Having a larger and more skilled roster would go a long way toward moving us forward.  Except for the couple of other small rural colleges, we play teams that are made up of All-Star-level players."

Dennis noted Chesapeake was "really close to not fielding a team at all this season."

"We didn't have 11 players certified eligible until the first week of September," he noted.  "When you look at what we did with what we had to work with the players and coaches realize the reality was we did the best we could.

"You have to have realistic goals," Dennis continued.  "We played as a team, worked hard, continued to improve both as a team and individually, kept the squad together and had a good time.

"I have to compliment my assistant coaches, Brian Bingel and Nikita Alleyne," added Dennis.  "Both are former Chesapeake players and I am proud of the jobs they did with the team throughout the season."