Force 3 UMBC Athlete of the Week: Andrew Gillis
10/26/2006
Force 3 UMBC Athlete of the Week: Andrew Gillis
Name: Andrew Gillis
Sport/Position: Men’s Soccer/Forward
Hometown/High School: Baltimore, Md./Perry Hall
Last Week: 2 goals, 4 points vs. Hartford (10/21).
Season Stats: 3 goals, 6 points, 1 game-winning-goal.
Retrievers Last Week: 1-1—Lost to New Hampshire 0-3 (10/18); Defeated Hartford 5-2 (10-21).
Season Record: 5-9-3, 2-4-2 America East
The game against Hartford on Saturday, Oct. 21 marked the last time seniors David Feazell, Kevin Mezzadra, Brian Pink and Bobby Woods would play for the Retrievers, but freshman Andrew Gillis is just getting started. Gillis, who was named America East Conference Rookie of the Week last week, and named to the 2006 America East All-Rookie Team today, has been chosen as the Force 3 UMBC Athlete of the Week for this week.
The Baltimore, Md. native continues the tradition of local talent coming to the Retrievers, joining the likes of Derek McElligott, Giuliano Celenza, and Kevin Mezzadra. “We brought [Andrew] in to score goals,” said assistant coach Anthony Adams, “and over the next three years we expect him to put points up for us.”
Gillis is well-suited to the role, as he ranked fifth in total points this season, scoring three goals for six points. With two of the four players ahead of him in points graduating this year, Gillis will have some big shoes to fill, along with the rest of the Retriever men.
The team has 18 players returning next year, which Adams said reminds him of the 1999 season, when UMBC returned 19 players and went on to compete in the NCAA Tournament.
Adams looks especially towards Gillis, who he said is “extremely athletic and stronger than he thinks he is. The more confidence he gets, the better he’ll do. Like all freshmen he hit a wall when classes started this year, but by the end of the year he was used to the schedule.”
Looking back on the season, Gillis said he wishes he “could have done more to help the team. I expected to learn a lot this year under Coach Caringi, and I did. I came here because I grew up in Baltimore and followed the program and really liked the coaches and facilities. This is the first team I’ve been on that gets along this well and I really like the team.”
That team was very young this year, but brings back a lot of experience next year. “The youth will be older,” said Gillis, “and I see us being a lot better team, not only going to the conference playoffs, but hopefully winning the conference title.”
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