Year in review: Troy soccer enjoys storybook 2014 season
Published 3:00 am Wednesday, December 31, 2014
The record books never stood a chance against the 2014 Troy Trojans soccer team.
In a miraculous turnaround year that saw Troy finish 16-6 overall — a vast improvement from their 8-10-1 record in 2013 — and smash just about every team and individual record they possibly could, 2014 was a dream season for the Trojans.
This season couldn’t have been scripted any better if it were a made-for-television movie.
First, there was dramatics.
After taking the 2013 season off to battle Hodgkin’s lymphoma, Troy senior midfielder Kailani Decock returned to the team in 2014 after beating the cancer to contribute to a magical season for the Trojans.
Then there were the personal and team accolades.
Freshman goalkeeper Mikki Lewis and junior midfielder Alissa Jones broke about every record that stood in front of them, leading the Trojans to their first ever conference championship game appearance.
Both Lewis and Jones were showered with post-season honors, including being named to the NSCAA All-South Region team.
Lewis posted a league-high 11 shutouts in 2014 and her 16 wins, 0.81 goals against average and shutout total were all new school records.
Jones set new Troy single-season marks in shots, assists, points, game-winning goals and single-game shots.
By the way, this was all done under a brand new head coach.
After serving as an assistant coach for the Florida Gators’ women’s soccer team, first-year head coach Jason Hamilton took over seamlessly for the Trojans, leading them to their best season ever.
Is it 2015 yet?