WINTER PARK, Fla. (December 27, 2010)-The 2010 campaign marked the most successful year for the Rollins men's soccer team with a host of individual awards and runner-up finish at the NCAA Division II Championship. After the 2009 season ended sooner than hoped, expectations were high for the start of the season. The preseason started with the Tars being selected third in the Sunshine State Conference after collecting the regular season championship in 2009.

The Tars started the exhibition season with two Division I opponents and came away with two draws. Rollins battled Stetson to a 1-1 draw at home to start its exhibition season and finished the preseason against Florida Gulf Coast, coming away with a 0-0 draw in Ft. Myers. The Tars emerged from the preseason injury free, something that has plagued the Tars in the past.

Rollins opened the first weekend of play with mixed results. The Tars dispatched Florida Memorial, 4-0 and then returned to the pitch to face a formidable opponent, the Cardinals of Incarnate Word. The Tars could not overcome playing a man down for 86 minutes and lost 4-1. The following weekend saw Rollins take to the road for two big games against West Florida and Thomas University. The Tars have struggled on the northern road trip, having not won in Thomasville since 2006 and in Pensacola since 2003. Rollins went 1-0-1 on the trip coming away with a big victory against West Florida and a draw against Thomas, coming back from an early two goal deficit.

Rollins entered the conference portion of their season 2-1-1 and hosted eighth-ranked Saint Leo and then hit the road to face seventh-ranked Lynn. The Tars used a game-winning goal from Chase Neinken to secure the overtime victory against Saint Leo and then rode a Bradley Welch hat trick to roll past Lynn. Rollins used a balance attack and strong defense to start out on fire, but hit a hurdle against Florida Southern at home, falling 3-1. This would be the last game the Tars would lose on the field until the NCAA Championship match, which included a five-game winning streak against nationally ranked opponents. Rollins outscored opponents 24-9 over the 14-game unbeaten streak. The Tars defense stepped up even bigger in conference play, holding opponents to six goals, while going 6-1-1 in that span.

After completing the first leg of the conference season, Rollins stepped out of conference play to face Palm Beach Atlantic. The Sailfish were under matched against the Tars, who had risen to No.7 in the national polls. The Tars came away with a 2-1 victory with Adam New and Neinken tallying goals.

Rollins would face a big test against No.20 Tampa on the road to close out the conference regular-season. With a chance to host the conference tournament on the line, the Tars defeated the Spartans 2-1. Even with the victory Barry, still had an outside chance of securing hosting rights for the conference tournament if they could win by four or more goals against Lynn in the conference finale. The Bucs did just that, handing Lynn a 5-0 defeat on the final day of the season. In the tournament the Tars drew the second seed and faced Florida Tech in the semifinals. Having beaten the Panthers earlier in the season, 2-1, the Tars looked to secure another victory and a step closer to the conference tournament crown. After battling through two overtimes the teams remained scoreless, resulting in penalty kicks to see who would advance to the finals. Florida Tech scored on its first three chances, while the Tars missed on theirs.
Rollins had a strong body of work throughout the season and earned the top seed and rights to host the NCAA South Region Tournament. Rollins drew West Florida in the first round of the tournament and escaped with a 1-0 victory. Since losing to the Tars early in the season, the Argos only lost three games until the matchup in the first round.

The second round game saw the Bucs and Tars matchup again, which proved to be another thriller in saga between these two teams in recent years. Rollins came out firing and scored three goals against the Buccaneers, while the staunch backline only gave up one to the highly explosive attack of the Bucs.

With the victory the Tars earned a trip to the NCAA Tournament quarterfinals, which was hosted at Cahall-Sandspur Field. The last time the Tars made it to the quarterfinal round was 1976 under the guidance of Dr. Gordie Howell. Rollins also accomplished a feat no other soccer team had before and that was winning two consecutive tournament games.

The quarterfinal matchup saw the Clayton St. Lakers travel to face the Tars in a matchup that was billed "The Game." Rollins did not disappoint the home faithful, tallying a 3-2 double-overtime victory courtesy of Kevin Boone's two assists and hat trick from Neinken. More than 1,500 fans jammed Barker Family Stadium, setting a new attendance record for the five year old facility.

With the victory in hand, the Tars punched their ticket to Louisville, the site of the 2010 Division II National Championship. Rollins faced off against No.2 Midwestern St., which had yet to lose on the season. The Tars controlled all aspects of the game, holding the high powered attack of Midwestern St. to only one goal. Midwestern St. defeated Chico St., 5-0 in their quarterfinal matchup, but the Tars used their All-American defense to shut them down. Jack Clifford was the hero for the Tars, tallying two goals to send Rollins into the championship game and a date with Northern Kentucky.

Rollins matched up well with Northern Kentucky and looked to control the game with their strategy, but the game included a factor nobody could have predicted. Before kickoff the game was delayed an hour due to large amounts of snow on the playing surface. The Tars had limited practice and game time on artificial turf, but falling snow during the game provided an extra challenge. Northern Kentucky was more experienced team in these conditions and took full advantage, while the Tars struggled. The Norse tallied two quick goals in the first half to stun the Tars and the fans that made the long haul to Louisville.

After a spirited half time talk from head coach Dr. Keith Buckley and the strong senior class, Rollins responded well coming out of the break. After the snow was cleared the Tars stepped up the attack and tallied two quick goals to stun Northern Kentucky. Rollins used their experience and expertise on set pieces to get back in the game with Adam New and Clifford tallying goals, while Boone notched both assists on corner kicks. The furious comeback fell just short as Northern Kentucky tallied a late goal to push the lead to one. The Tars season ended with disappointment, but goes down as the most successful season in school history.

Individually, Rollins received numerous honors for their excellent play on the field and academic performance in the classroom. Senior defender Thomas Biddinger collected prestigious awards for his play. Biddinger added to his list of accolades collected this season with Daktronics All-American, Sunshine State Conference Defensive Player of the Year, First Team All-SSC, Daktronics First Team All-Region and CoSIDA ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District Soccer First Team. The highest honor Biddinger received was the NSCAA All-American First Team nod, which is voted upon by the coaches.  From his backline spot Biddinger completed a stellar season as he tallied seven points (3G 1A). Biddinger anchored a staunch backline that was exceptional in conference play, and help opponents to six goals in eight games

Head coach Dr. Keith Buckley was tabbed the NSCAA South Region Coach of the Year for guiding the Tars to a 15-4-3 record, Sunshine State Conference regular season title and National Runner-up. The Tars finished No.2 in the postseason rankings.

Clifford also collected NSCAA All-American Second Team honors and will be honored for his accomplishment along with Biddinger in Baltimore on Jan 14. He also garnered NSCAA All-South Region First Team, All-SSC First Team, Daktronics All-American Honorable Mention and Daktronics All-South Region First Team.

Stephen Wright, Nick Sowers and Neinken all collected All-SSC Second Team and Daktronics All-South Region Second team accolades. Freshmen goalkeeper, Keneil Baker also joined the trio, collecting his first Daktronics All-South Region Second Team nomination.

Baker controlled the area between the posts all season, posting a 0.514 goals against average, which ranks him third in the nation. As a freshman he tallied 11 wins and seven shutouts through 15 games.  

Rollins graduates 12 players and will look to the younger players to step up and fill the void left by the graduating class.