For men’s soccer coach Thiago Pinto soccer is much more than just wins and championships. “Understanding mission to glorify God through the way we serve and celebrate,” said Pinto is central to success on the soccer pitch. Pinto over the course of the season has driven to instill values such as trust and respect in his team, both of which he believes, are keys to life and soccer. All year he has held his players to a high standard of excellence both on and off the field. Last year during Pinto’s first year as Head Coach he led the Pilots to an unprecedented undefeated regular season. The Pilots however were eliminated in the opening round of the NAIA tournament. This year’s team while not going undefeated hopes to advance past the opening round of the NAIA tournament. At the start of this season Pinto challenged his team with a set of goals. One of which was going undefeated in the MCC. Another was to make it past the opening round of the NAIA tournament. The Pilots now find themselves in a familiar situation winning the MCC title for the third straight year. Leading up to the MCC final game verses Indiana Wesleyan University Pinto said his team would have to go out and, “play the best game of the season,” and they did just that easily beating IWU 4-1. Pinto said even though the team lost some very talented players last year he believes this years team is, “better than last year.” He also noted that he thought this year’s team was, “more of a team than last year.” The Pilots are 8-0 in conference play and after their win over IWU they are primed for another NAIA tournament birth. Nov. 20 will mark the Pilots third straight trip to the first round of the NAIA tournament. They play the number one seed Rio Grande who went undefeated this season. The Red Storm crushed the Pilots 7-0 when they met earlier this year. It looks like the Pilots will have to go out Saturday and yet again “play the best game of the season,” if they hope to advance past the second round of the NAIA tournament.
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