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Florida Tech Basketball is Back

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Elena Ciulli | Staff Writer

The Florida Tech women’s and men’s basketball teams are set to open the 2020-21 basketball season, starting off what surely will be an unusual season in program history. 

Photo by Edwin Ariel Valladares from Pexels

The Panthers are one of seven schools from the Sunshine State Conference scheduled to compete. Only a partial schedule has been made available, listing games through March 13. All game dates and times are subject to change. 

The women’s team was the first to hit the hardwood on Feb. 5, starting off with a 64-57 win over Florida Southern. This marked the program’s first game in 339 days.

The team is under the same management as last year. Coach John Reynolds is in command, with Aerial Wilson as assistant coach.

In their opening game, three Panthers scored double figures. First in the list, Severine Uggen with 15 points, followed by newcomers Aiste Vaitekunaite and Zoe Murphy helping the team with 14 and 13 points. The Panthers followed up with two losses and one win.

“Our first game was a bit tough after not playing since March 2020. So, I’m positive that we can do so much better. I think we have a great team this year,” Uggen said. “A good stretch with shooters and inside players, and an overall good team chemistry. I’m very grateful that we get to play again, and I just hope everybody stays safe”. 

Head coach Reynolds said he was satisfied with the team’s performance, regardless of the cold environment of an empty gym. 

“One thing that was a bit weird is playing without fans,” Reynolds said. “Without the fans, and without the buzz in the gym, it’s so different.” 

Florida Tech policy prohibits spectators from attending any sporting events this year, including all basketball games. 

The Lady Panthers’ next game will be Saturday, Feb. 20 against Saint Leo. Live stream will be available.

Testing and Training: Panther Athletes Return to Practice

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Elena Ciulli | Staff Writer

Students have made their way back to campus, among them student athletes looking to get back to training.

The athletic department outlines the strategy for mitigating the spread of COVID-19 to guarantee the safety of student athletes, coaches, and athletic trainers. Florida Tech implemented a sport-specific phased resocialization approach for each team, starting with the arrival of student athletes at the beginning of spring semester. 

The priority was to get student athletes traveling back to campus safe and healthy. In order to be allowed to return to campus, student athletes have been required to submit a negative COVID-19 test. Testing has been double-layered, with follow-up tests acting as the green light for team practices. 

“I have been very impressed with all of the measures that the university has taken as a whole.” Luis Velez, head athletic trainer at Florida Tech, said. 

Once competitions start, athletes and staff will be subjected to different protocols, depending on potential transmission risk factors as outlined by the NCAA. 

The nature of the sport and whether it is played indoors or outdoors are determining factors. Based on these guidelines by the NCAA, as competition approaches athletes and staff will be tested regularly starting the week prior to competition and throughout the season and postseason.

 “I want to also thank Brittany Collins from the Health Center, Krishna Patel from the PRT for their help, our athletic administration, and our athletic training staff for their assistance in creating and implementing our policies,” Velez said. “Our coaches and student athletes have done a great job communicating with me and my staff if any concerns arise.”

Players and coaches are expected to strictly adhere to COVID-19 protocols throughout the semester.

John Reynolds, head coach of the women’s basketball team, says that he is following the protocols to a “T.”

“This is the best way to create as safe a practice environment as possible, and I have complete trust in the precautions that we have instituted,” Reynolds said.

Panther athletes work(out) from home

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Elena Ciulli | Staff Writer

From staying ready to quarantine if an athlete tests positive, to getting their workouts through apps, Panther athletes have had to adapt to a “new normal” in the face of COVID-19.

Florida Tech athletes have taken a unique and challenging hit due to COVID-19. Athletes’ daily lives have been drastically changed, with the majority of their time now being spent maintaining fitness levels and skill training. 

To combat this unexpected off-season, athletes are seeking creative new ways to maintain their skills remotely. Sophomore Nolan Penn, a member of the men’s lacrosse team, had to quarantine after testing positive for COVID-19.

During his time in quarantine, Penn focused on working out in his apartment with training that doesn’t require equipment.

 “Our team got shut down immediately after finding out the first positive case. Quarantine was different for each athlete and it was mainly contained to a few off campus houses,” Penn said. “During our isolation period, my roommate and I have been trying to maintain our shape working out in our apartment as much as we could.”

According to Florida Tech strength and conditioning coach Carl Putman, making sure athletes maintain good physical and mental health is the major goal of their recovery journey. 

“We tried to send creative workouts for the athletes to try at home using regular household items through a training platform on a phone app”, Putman said. 

So what do athletes in quarantine or who tested positive have to do before they return to practice? 

According to Putman, athletic trainers have been implementing “return to play” protocols for athletes coming off quarantine. This is added to lower intensity workouts specially designed for those recovering from COVID-19. 

All of these changes have presented challenges to Panther athletes.

Luis Moriyon Jr., a junior on the baseball team, has experienced some tough moments, but said he has full confidence on the coaching staff. 

“The hardest part was going back to phase one as soon as we found the first positive case in our team. At this point it’s tough to know what would be our next move, but we follow what our coaches say and we trust the process.” Moriyon said.

Moriyon said extra precautions have been taken, such as avoiding sharing equipment with other athletes. 

Putman emphasized that for any athletes exposed to COVID-19, returning to health is most important. He explained that hydration, proper nutrition, and sleep, along with stretching and mobility work, take priority. 

 “Recovery is very important and vital, particularly if our immune system has been busy fighting the virus,” Putman said.

Safety takes the lead in campus organization planning

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By Johnny O’Brien

Campus organizations at Florida Tech have commenced with the start of the school year, with organization leaders prioritizing safety as they plan their events. 

Florida Tech’s First Year Experience, spearheaded by Jessica Ha Bittner, offers a 1000-level university experience course, with the purpose of helping out new students during their initial academic and social transitions to Florida Tech. Their office offers educational and social programming throughout the year. The first program in their lineup debuts on Sept. 18, with Oscar-winning film Parasite for the FYE Film Series.

Ha Bittner says that FYE is following all protocols outlined in the Florida Tech Safe: Return to Learn plan. 

“We require masks for anyone to enter our office space, and we also offer in-person appointments for students who are on campus this fall, but highly encourage all students to meet with us virtually through Microsoft Teams meetings or via phone conferences,” Ha Bittner said.

The FYE office works primarily with incoming students who transfer in less than 30 credits and are considered first year students. Ha Bittner mentioned the office is not only providing students with resources and knowledge for first year at Florida Tech, but also ensuring they understand the safety measures in place at the university. 

“All FYE advisees are encouraged to speak with their advisor if they have any questions or concerns about Florida Tech, the transition to college life, or our pandemic response,” Ha Bittner said. “We promise to assist students with any questions they may have, including connecting the student with the appropriate resource needed to provide that assistance.”

The Homecoming committee is also having to adjust with all things COVID, as homecoming committee head Samara Gallion is taking precautions to ensure a fun and safe gathering for this year’s event. Gallion said that last year’s events were extended by a day and a half and the committee plans on doing the same for this year.

“Last year our events included Kick-off, Fall Earth Day, Big Night Out 2.0, Talent Show, Downtown Fest, Homecoming Football game, and Homecoming Carnival,” Gallion said. “These activities provide a lot of diversity for all students to find something to enjoy during the week and also gives them an outlet to destress.”

With COVID-19 still a major concern, the homecoming committee made an executive decision to move homecoming to the spring semester. 

“All of our plans have been shifted back and we will be working diligently to make Homecoming possible this year in an environment where everyone can feel safe,” Gallion said.

Gallion said she cannot make any statement yet if the school will have any limits to who can attend Homecoming activities this year, but the homecoming committee will be thoroughly discussing the implications of the population and safety adjustments that the school will be implementing come spring semester.

“The policies that we set in place this year might not occur in the following, but they are something that should be kept around as a baseline for any event such as COVID,” Gallion said. 

Nicolette Murphey, president of the Marine Biological Society at Florida Tech, and treasurer Erika Kurtzweil said that the organization is unable to gather large groups for their beach cleanups due to COVID-19.

“We’re strongly encouraging people to still go to the beach independently and pick up any trash they find, but it’s not the same group effort we’ve been able to have in the past,” Murphey said.

Kurtzweil said the group is hopeful that they will be able to pick events back up in the spring semester. 

Murphey said the organization has had to make some changes to adapt to the new normal, including cancelling their spring snorkeling trip and placing many plans on hold to keep members safe.

Florida Tech’s fall sports have also experienced delays and changes due to COVID-19. Daniel Supraner, director of athletic communications, said that the department is doing all they can to make sure student-athletes remain safe on campus, with team practices halted from the start of the semester until Sept. 7.

“We are educating and encouraging student-athletes to wear a mask, social distance, and avoid large gatherings and parties,” Supraner said.

Supraner said that practices will be based around small groups of ten or less athletes. 

On July 18, the Sunshine State Conference (SSC) Presidents Council announced that the 2020 fall sports season was being postponed, which included men’s and women’s soccer, men’s and women’s cross country and volleyball. 

“Right now, the plan is to have fall sports compete during the Spring 2021 semester but the exact start date has yet to be determined,” Supraner said.

Supraner said the start date for winter sports, including men’s and women’s basketball and men’s and women’s swimming, has yet to be announced as well. The normal start time for competition is usually in November. 

According to Supraner, fall sports will do a conference-only schedule and winter sports will likely do the same.

“At this time, none of our teams are able to schedule contests outside the state of Florida,” Supraner said.

Florida Tech women’s soccer coach resigns

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by Elena Ciulli

Florida Tech women’s soccer coach, Jessica Monarch, resigned and has accepted a position as assistant coach for the women’s soccer program at Charleston University.
Monarch will be joining coaches Jose Gomez and Jackie Stoll at Charleston University.

Assistant coach Julia Kantor will take over this spring semester, and plans on remaining the assistant coach during next season. //Photo: Florida Tech sports

Before joining the Panther program, Monarch served for two years as a graduate assistant coach at Belhaven University and has since spent the last five years with the Florida Tech program. Monarch first started working as an assistant coach at Florida Tech and then became head coach in 2018.

The highlight of her tenure was in 2017 when Monarch led the women’s team to the team’s first-ever Sunshine State Conference tournament championship.

 Soccer players like Hailey Feela, a sophomore majoring in biomedical sciences,  are looking forward to seeing what the fall season will bring to the team. “I am extremely excited about the new direction Florida Tech women’s soccer will be taking,” Feela said.

Monarch left the spot to her assistant coach Julia Kantor, a Florida Tech alumni. 

Kantor was assistant coach for the women’s soccer team for one year before stepping in as head coach until the position is filled permanently. 

Kantor said she is enjoying this experience, taking this moment as a good learning period and working to further cultivate her relationship with the team. 

According to the players, coach Kantor is managing the challenges well in the absence of a new head coach. 

Hailey Henderson, a sophomore majoring in biomedical sciences, alike to Feela, is also looking forward to the incoming fall semester. “Now, more than ever, our team needs to come together and support each other to get what we want to achieve,” Henderson said. “I am fully confident in coach Kantor’s abilities and it’s time for me and the girls to come out stronger.”

According to Kantor, Florida Tech has begun the search for a new head coach.

Inequalities Found Among Head Coaching Salaries

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Florida Tech displayed instances of inequalities, particularly among head coach salaries for men’s and women’s athletic teams in 2018, according to data reported within the Equity in Athletics Disclosure Act.

The Equity in Athletics Disclosure Act is an annual report released from the Department of Education that examines gender equity amongst collegiate athletic programs. 

 The most recent data from the Department of Education, dating from June of 2017 through May of 2018, cited the average pay for a head coach for men’s varsity sports programs at Florida Tech was $60,131. The average pay for a head coach for women’s varsity sports programs at Florida Tech was $40,700; resulting in nearly a $20,000 gap.

“We’re always looking at salaries,” said Bill Jurgens, Florida Tech’s athletic director.  

Jurgens also stated that there are numerous factors that play into a coach’s salary at Florida Tech. For example, contributing factors include age and experience, time spent at Florida Tech, success of the team, particularly raises for NCAA appearances and SSC championship wins. Florida Tech sports camps and youth programs also provide opportunities for coaches to obtain additional pay.

“I will say, there is much more money generated from the camps for men’s sports than women’s sports,” Jurgens said. “It often has a lot to do with the receptiveness of certain camps.  Some camps just draw a lot of people and a lot of youth and others don’t draw as much, and some of it has to do with your success and reputation.”

Coaches’ Voices

·According to Val Silvestrini, head coach of the Panthers softball team, the issue with the salary gap goes beyond gender.

“To me, the issue is not male versus female,” Silvestrini said. “My issue is that our salaries are not comparable to the other salaries in the conference.”

Florida Tech is one of 11 schools that competes within the NCAA Division II Sunshine State Conference. In comparison to other salary gaps between schools within the SSC, Florida Tech had the second largest pay gap among head coach’s salary for men’s and women’s varsity sports. Embry Riddle Aeronautical University had the largest gap of $54,166. 

Florida Tech’s gap of exactly $19,431 was almost double that of all other schools in the SSC, which include Barry University, Eckerd College, Florida Southern College, Lynn University, Nova Southeastern University, Palm Beach Atlantic University, Rollins College, Saint Leo University and the University of Tampa.

Pete Mazzone, Florida Tech’s associate athletic director as well as the head coach for the Panther’s men’s and women’s cross country team, alike to Jurgens emphasized that there are many factors as to why there are discrepancies between the salaries. 

“Certain factors need to be taken into consideration when looking at that stand alone number,” Mazzone said.  “Longevity as well as experience is not something that that gap examines.”

Mazzone went on to say that he thinks “there should be room for improvement.” 

“If you have one coach that has been here for eight years and that person happens to be coaching a female sport, there’s no difference in coaching men and they should be compensated for that properly,” Mazzone said.

 Recruiting Budget Gap within the 2018 EADA Report 

Another gap that stood out within the Department of Education’s EADA report for Florida Tech was the recruiting budget for men’s and women’s sports. In the 2018 athletic year, the recruiting budget for men’s sports was $87,841, and the recruiting budget for women’s sports at Florida Tech was $29,502—a $58,339 gap. According to David Fassino, Florida Tech athletics business manager, it is crucial to compare the recruiting budgets to the percentage of male and female athletes at Florida Tech.

“Once you look at that comparison you should see that the percentage of male and female athletes should be nearly equal to or very close to the allocation of the recruiting budgets being spent on men’s and women’s sports,” Fassino said.

Sixty-five percent of Florida Tech athletes were male and the remaining 34 percent of athletes were women. Yet, 75 percent of the entire recruiting budget was spent on men’s varsity sports, and 25 percent was spent on women’s sports.

According to Alexander Vamosi—an associate professor in the Nathan M. Bisk College of Business who teaches sports economy— the gap within the recruiting budget at Florida Tech “is not a fair comparison.”

“Football is a huge outlier in terms of operating expenses as well, but also the amount of revenue they bring in,” Vamosi said.

“No sport of such size or portion is at all equivalent to football in women’s athletics.”

Florida Tech is the only school within the SSC that has a football program. The Panther’s football program does not compete within the SSC, rather they compete in the Gulf South Conference, playing against many teams located outside of Florida.

Vamosi also stated that a huge factor that plays into the recruiting budgets at any athletic program is revenue.

“Primarily speaking, football and men’s basketball generate the most revenue and that’s simply because there is a higher consumer demand for those sports than others, making them profitable,” Vamosi said.

Backing Vamosi’s claims, the 2018 EADA report for Florida Tech showed that revenue generated from football was $3150,032, and the total revenue for all men’s sports combined not including football and basketball was $3,625,096. All eight other men’s varsity athletics programs brought in only about $475,000 more combined than football and men’s basketball alone. 

“The bottom line is that football is the main reason why there is a gap within the recruiting budget,” Vamosi said.  

Student-Athlete Voices

Kailee O’brien, a sophomore who was recruited out of Ohio to play as a midfielder for the Panther’s lacrosse program, was surprised to hear of the gap, but could see why there is such a discrepancy, saying that “football is a massive program in comparison to other sports teams on campus.”

“It makes sense why there’s a gap, but it’s crazy to see that $58,000 number at first,” O’Brien said. “It’s also scary that we’re not really aware of it.”

Evan Thompson, a  junior from Orlando on the football team as well as the men’s golf team, was not surprised of that gap because of his experiences on the football team and the general understanding that football  brings in large amounts of revenue between gameday tickets, revenues, special events, fundraising and more.

“I still feel as though the girls are not treated as fairly and are not given the same amount of opportunities as males at this tech school,” Thompson said. “I feel as though our school should do more research into closing this gap, and creating a more engaging culture for particularly women student-athletes at our school.”

Jurgens said that one of his main priorities in 2020 will be to perform a yearly analysis of data within the EADA report, specifically the gap among coaching salaries. 

“We will look at comparisons not just within the conference, but nationally,” Jurgens said. “The salaries are very important. I think it’s critical that we provide equitable support for the men and the women’s teams.”

As of now, the analysis is still underway as data is being collected for the 2019 athletic year. According to Jurgens, this criteria will be examined shortly into 2020. 

Florida Tech Sports Recap for Nov. 24, 2019

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Football: Overall record: 5-6

The Panthers finish their season strong with a blowout win on their home turf.
Photo // Florida Tech Athletics

Nov. 16 42-3 Win vs Shorter

Volleyball: Overall record: 4-27

The volleyball team ended their season on a 12-game losing streak and placed last in their conference. Photo // Florida Tech Athletics

Nov. 15 0-3 Loss at Saint Leo University
Nov. 16 0-3 Loss at University of Tampa
Nov. 22 0-3 Loss vs Lynn University
Nov. 23 0-3 Loss vs Nova Southeastern University

Men’s Soccer: Overall record: 12-3-1

After losing the second round of the conference playoffs, the Panthers still solidified a spot in the NCAA playoffs and secured a victory in the first round. Photo // Florida Tech Athletics

Nov. 14 1-3 Loss vs Palm Beach Atlantic
Nov. 23 2-1 Win vs University of West Florida

Men’s Basketball: Overall record: 2-3

The Panthers are off to a below-average start early on in their lengthy season. 

Nov. 8 75-92 Loss vs Benedict College
Nov. 9 84-88 Loss at Auburn-Montgomery
Nov. 14 111-71 Win vs Johnson
Nov. 16 81-63 Win vs Puerto Rico-Bayamon 
Nov. 23 70-75 Loss at Saint Leo University

Women’s Basketball: Overall record: 3-3

A .500 start six games into the Panthers season.

Nov. 8 67-75 Loss vs University of West Georgia
Nov. 9 75-73 Win vs Spring Hill College
Nov. 15 80-56 Win vs University of Puerto Rico-Bayamon
Nov. 16 53-75 Loss vs Clayton State University
Nov. 19 71-57 Win at Flagler College
Nov. 23 67-82 Loss at Saint Leo University

NCAA student-athletes can now profit off their fame nationwide

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After the NCAA board of governors passed a law to allow college athletes to profit off their fame in several states such as California, Florida and Colorado, they voted unan- imously on a similar agree- ment nationwide on Oct. 29.

The board has asked the three divisions of the NCAA to create the necessary rules immediately in order to have them in place no later than January of 2021.

Bill Jurgens, Florida Tech’s athletic director, stat- ed that he does not have an opinion at this time, due to this information just being released, and the fact that the NCAA is still looking into this matter.

According to TIME, the NCAA needs to determine how athletes can profit off of their name, likeness and

image, while also maintaining rules regarding amateurism.

Jake Hahn, a junior on the lacrosse team, said he thinks that for these rules to be effec- tive, the NCAA would have to redefine the term of amateur- ism in college sports.

“I think the main thing that categorizes an athlete as a professional is that they get paid to play their sport,” Hahn said.

Hahn then explained that an athlete can’t be both a professional and an amateur at the same time.

He elaborated that the hard thing about allowing student athletes to make money off their name is the fact that once that student starts making money, it’s hard to say if they can still be considered an amateur.

Johnny Poret, a sopho- more on the football team, said he believes that players

should be paid based on the amount of money they bring into the school.

“Big time players bring in big time money for schools because people want to come watch them play,” Poret said. “The more money a player brings in, the more money that player should receive.”

How universities will assist students in profiting off of their name and likeness has not been decided.

Both Hahn and Poret brought up the suggestion of personal jersey sales, or team equipment inside the univer- sity’s bookstore or on their website.

As far as recruiting is concerned, Hahn said he believes that this new rule will potentially have no impact on the smaller Division II and Division III schools, but could have an effect on Division I schools.

Hahn went on to explain that the high quality athletes, such as those who are considered four or five star recruits, won’t have an interest in coming to Florida Tech, as they have the opportunity to

pursue Division I schools. With just a little over a year until this rule will be put in play, much more informa- tion regarding rules and regu- lations from the NCAA itself

are still to come.

Athletics stay busy during homecoming week

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To begin the week, the volleyball team fell to the Embry-Riddle Eagles on Tuesday night.

The Panthers lost in straight sets but kept each set close. Each set was lost by only five points or fewer.

They finished the match with 33 kills, 33 assists, five service aces, four blocks, 64 digs and 63 total points. Soccer continued the week on Wednesday night, both taking on Rollins College.

The No. 6 ranked men’s team was undefeated entering the game with a 9-0-1 record.

Their game against the Tars was the Panthers second of the season to go into overtime but this time they came up short, losing 2-1.

Guillermo Segovia scored Florida Tech’s only goal of the evening, tallying his goal total for the season to a team-high seven goals.

The women’s team had similar results at home against the Tars, losing 3-0.

Maria Munoz, Brittany Etrick and Alexis Sheely each challenged the Rollins goalkeeper, putting a shot on goal.

The football team wrapped up homecoming week Saturday afternoon as they took on the West Florida Argonauts.

This game was not only the homecoming game but the fourth annual Coastal Classic rivalry game between Florida Tech and West Florida.

The winner gets to keep the Coastal Classic Trophy for the full year until they face off the next season.

In last season’s game, the Panthers overcame an 18-point deficit and beat the Argonauts 30-28.

This year, Florida Tech fell to West Florida 38-14, making their overall record 1-3 in the rivalry game.

The 24-point difference was the greatest so far of the four-year rivalry.

Similar to last year, the Panthers found themselves down early, trailing 17-7 at halftime.

After falling down 31-7 in the third quarter, it was too great of a deficit for them to overcome this year.

Freshman quarterback Mike Diliello was featured in both of Florida Tech’s touchdowns.

The first was a 91-yard run by Diliello that at the time brought them within three points of the Argonauts.

The second and final touchdown scored by the Panthers was a seven-yard pass from Diliello to tight end Kenny Hiteman late in the third quarter.

The trophy is now back with West Florida but the Panthers will have their chance to reclaim it next season.

Florida Tech began their season 3-1 but have now dropped four straight games, leaving their record at a 3-5 with three more games remaining in the regular season.

They next take on West Alabama at Panther Stadium on Saturday, Nov. 2.

Men’s soccer undefeated despite injury

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The men’s soccer team is now 6-0 on the season and 2-0 against conference opponents.

Most recently, the Panthers took on defending NCAA Division II national champions, Barry University.

After taking a 1-0 lead, scored by Guillermo Segovia, Florida Tech struggled to further the lead and allowed Barry to tie up the game 1-1.

Senior midfielder Luca Campanini had a penalty kick opportunity to give the Panthers a one-goal advantage but it was blocked by Barry’s goalkeeper.

Campanini said after the game, “I need to make up for this and we need to win.”

With less than two minutes remaining in the match, Guillermo was fouled inside the box and was able to put his penalty kick in the back of the net.

“When the final whistle blew it was a sigh of relief,” Campanini said. “We should have really beat this team more easily than we did but they made it hard for us.”

This gave the Panthers their sixth win of the season, but along with their great success, there has also come heartbreak.

Graduate Student Solomon Wheatley was lost for the season as he suffered a torn ACL during their match against Limestone.

Wheatley had an assist on the game before the injury but he said he thinks he was getting tired because it was the last 10 minutes of the game.

“I tried to turn as players ran by me and my left foot was stuck in the grass as I turned,” Wheatley said. “I then heard a loud pop noise as if I had broken something and fell the floor.”

He said that normally when he gets injured he knows he can recover fast but this injury was different.

“I had to be carried off the field by my trainer so I knew it was more serious than other injuries but had no clue on what was to come.” Wheatley said if he’s being honest he’s in a difficult place right now.

“It’s been very hard for me to accept my injury and it’s going to get harder after I have my surgery,” he said. “I stayed back in the UK during last spring and trained myself to get in good shape for this fall, so for me to start off as well as I did, it’s been extremely upsetting.”

Senior midfielder Craig McCall said the loss of Wheatley has been massive and that the team was “gutted” when the news broke he’d be out for the season.

“The boys are going to have to fill a big void on and off the field with his absence, but we believe Sol will still have a big role in the team’s dynamic off the field with his character and leadership,” McCall said.

Graduate Student midfielder Morgan Gauthier said that the early season injuries have affected their play.

“It might be one reason why we are not playing our best football in the first few games as we aren’t able to rotate players as we would like to and get tired,” Gauthier said.

Regardless of maybe not playing to their full potential, the Panthers are undefeated and Wheatley said they show a lot of promise.

“My advice for the team is to just give everything into every opportunity whether that be in practice or games,” Wheatley said. “If we work harder than all of the teams there’s no doubt the soccer will take care of the rest. We have a lot of talent in our squad we just need to believe it.”

The Panthers next head on the road on Saturday, Oct. 5 to take on Nova Southeastern and try to remain undefeated.