bscAthletics
Men’s soccer wins second Big South regular season
championship
The Birmingham-Southern men’s soccer team brought home plenty of hardware for its
growing trophy case during the 2005 season.
BSC captured its second straight Big South Conference regular season title with a 5-1-1
league record while posting a 12-5-1 overall record. The Panthers made the Big South
Conference Tournament semifinals for the third consecutive year, but were denied a third
straight trip to the conference finals with a 2-1 loss to Winthrop.
Individual honors came in bunches as senior Thimo Langner and Head Coach Preston
Goldfarb took the top honors. Langner became the second Panther in as many years to earn
Big South Conference Player of the Year accolades. Goldfarb earned his first Big South
Conference Coach of the Year honor and the eighth such honor of his career.
Additionally, nine players earned individual All-Big South laurels. Seniors Langer, Karim
Dietz, Floreal Pedrazo, and Martin Zaluk, and sophomore Gino Cozzolino were named to the
first team. Juniors Douglas Eckhardt and Joe Nasco earned second team honors, and Stephen
Rumble and Robert Geil were Big South All-Freshmen Team selections. Dietz and Langner
were tabbed to the All-Big South Tournament Team.
Cozzolino, who also was named Academic All-Big South, led BSC with 13 goals and 31
points. Langner was second on the team with 11 goals and 30 points.
Cozzolino and Pedrazo were each named Big South Conference Choice Hotels Player of the
Senior forward Karim Dietz was one of five
Week during the season.
Panthers who earned First Team All-Big South
honors after leading BSC to its second consecutive aaaThe team escaped a potentially tragic situation on its way home from the Big South
Conference Tournament in November when 17 members of the Birmingham-Southern men’s
Big South regular season championship.
soccer travel party were injured in a bus accident just outside Atlanta.
aaaThe bus carrying the team home from High Point, N.C., lost its front right tire in a blowout and then collided with a concrete guardrail and
came to rest on a grassy embankment near an exit ramp.
aaaMembers of the team and the coaching and administrative staff were taken to Gwinnett Medical Center where they were treated for various
injuries, including broken bones, cuts, bruises, and a concussion. No one was seriously injured.
aaaBy late afternoon, all members of the travel party were released and en route to the BSC campus.
Volleyball squad finishes season fourth in Big South
For the second consecutive season, the Birmingham-Southern volleyball squad finished among
the top four teams in the Big South Conference, securing a first-round home match in the
league’s tournament. The Panthers took care of High Point in four games to advance to the Big
South semifinals, where their valiant effort fell just short to eventual champ Winthrop.
Following a 1-4 start, the 2005 Panthers rebounded with four straight wins, including winning
the Samford Invitational which helped propel them into Big South play.
Things looked bleak after a 0-4 start in league play, but with wins in four of their last six
regular season matches, the Panthers finished the season 14-15 overall and 6-8 in Big South play.
Fifth-year Head Coach Tonya Charland said farewell to five seniors at season’s end in Lillian
Henderson, Lindsey Herzog, Sarah Martin, Cassie Reed, and Jana Smelley.
Henderson led the team in hitting percentage and blocks and was second in total kills and
points. Herzog left BSC with 1,162 career digs, which ranks at an all-time fourth. Martin was
tied for third on the team in block assists and fourth in kills and points. Reed was third on the
squad in kills and points and is fourth in career kills with 911. An All-Big South standout as a
junior, Smelley led the Panthers in kills for the second straight season in 2005, in addition to
ranking first in points and second in digs. She leaves the Hilltop third in career kills and seventh
in digs.
Freshman Alex Plummer made an immediate impact on the squad was tabbed First Team AllBig South and All-Freshman. Reed was named to the second team, while freshman Kelsey King
joined Plummer on the All-Freshman squad. Martin was named to the Big South All-Academic
Team.
38 ’SOUTHERN
Senior Jana Smelley led the BSC volleyball team
in kills and points and ranked second in digs. She
leaves the Hilltop ranked third in career kills and
seventh in digs.