Dalton Charest
Equinox Staff
There are some athletes who come to Keene State College with only one goal in mind.
Sometimes, those athletes strive to score as many of those goals as they can. Scott Douglas is one of those athletes.
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In the world of NCAA Division-III soccer, Scott (Scotty) Douglas, a KSC sophomore forward, took the 2011 men’s soccer season by storm tallying 14 goals this season to lead the Little East Conference.
His efforts have earned him the LEC Golden Ball Award for scoring the most goals in the league this past season.
The East Greenwich, Rhode Island former “prospect” has be rid the former prospect title and established himself as a dominant star player at the NCAA Men’s Division-III soccer level.
Though, this award is perceived to be an individual award, Douglas has made it clear that even this has been exciting to achieve such heights, this award truly deserves to portray the success of his team members who surround him.
When asked in an interview about how he felt to have achieved the award, Douglas was extremely humbled and gratifying towards his teammates and coaches who provided him with the support he needed.
With a severe high ankle injury, the forward had an uncontrollable slow start to the season.
Scotty Douglas said, “I started off really slow with a bad ankle injury and I missed the first couple of games.”
“Then getting back into the swing of things, being out of shape, you know the team really picked me up though and we just went on a roll and ended up in the LEC finals. As for the 14 goals it was just exciting, kind of unexpected but it was good,” he said.
Long-time men’s Head Soccer coach Dr. Ron Butcher, after his forty-first season on the sidelines has always had the ability to motivate his teams every season under his tenure.
The “Doctor” is fifth on the Division III men’s coaches list for all-time victories (578) and has led the Owls to 31 postseason appearances.
Coach Butcher is by far the most respected voice for the Keene State College men’s soccer team as he voiced his opinion on the success of his team and the story of Scott Douglas.
Butcher said, “Anytime you got a guy that’s 5’7, 145 when he came to us, you just don’t know how the aggressive nature of the game is going to wear and tear on his body.
However, I think one weekend into his freshman year he kind of dispelled all the theories that size in soccer really has not much to do with the heart of an individual and Scotty Douglas plays every game the same way.
Hard, 100 percent effort and that’s what makes him such a dangerous player on the field. He’ll run through a brick wall to try and score a goal.”
The stats don’t lie as Scotty Douglas surely did dispel those theories even more this season finishing with the 14 goals he had and 28 total points overall.
Scoring back-to-back hat-tricks against Framingham State (10/18) and conference rival Umass Dartmouth (10/22), the sophomore striker had three hat-tricks in one season.
The most notable hat-trick he had was his overtime game-winner against Rhode Island College in the Little East Conference semifinals that sent the Owls into the Little East Conference championship game for the second year in a row.
Douglas quotes his teammates and how they would joke around about him scoring another hat-trick but then said when it came to game time, the team would rally up and get serious being ready to play when the time presented itself.
Even if soccer is only a sport to some, Coach Butcher was speaking about what this past seasons success meant to Keene State College.
Coach Butcher said, “I think anytime an athlete wins an award not only for self but for the team and the program and for the school, it brings great recognition to a school. Being in college is more than just being in class. Being in college is trying to be a well-rounded individual that performs outside the boundaries and people like that go far in life.”
The future of the Keene State men’s soccer team is looking brighter than the sun and the team is hoping for even greater success next season.
Douglas said, “For next season, we have a lot of our starters returning and it’s just good stuff to look forward to. I just hope I can manage to do better next season for my team. Overall, as a team, we want to win the championship and we want to win the conference.”
Another sophomore forward in Bryce Lawlor will be returning next season along with Douglas and that should definitely add some depth out front for the Owls.
Talking about next seasons goals and future, Butcher had a lot of positive things to say and get the Keene State College soccer fans excited about.
Butcher said, “Well I think we have a very good nucleus coming back. Our main goal in recruiting right now is to find another superstar forward who can take the pressure off, Scotty.”
“We think we’ve found three and all three have already verbally committed to Keene State, which means they’re going to have to cover Scotty 1 v 1, rather than 2 v 1 and 3 v 1,” Butcher continued. “Now, I think the world is in front of him in terms of scoring goals, because he’s tenacious and man, around the net, he wants to find a way to stick that ball pass the goalkeeper.”
Leading the Keene State m en’s soccer team with five fame-winners on the season, Douglas and company will be shooting for an even higher goal come Fall 2012.
Dalton Charest can be contacted at dcharest@ksc.mailcruiser.com