Quarttet of Fighting Tigers named to National Team Roster
CUTHBERT, Ga. -- Andrew College men's soccer All-Region 17 honorees Lewis Jones, James Quinn, Josh Fines and Troy Ceasar have been named to the British Virgin Islands Men's National Team roster for the 2016 Caribbean Cup by BVIFA Head Coach Avondale Williams.
"This is a special, opportunity and moment for Lewis, James, Josh and Troy, the men's soccer program and our college," said Interim Athletic Director Blake Williams. "We are very proud of them for this opportunity to represent Andrew College on the international stage."
The Caribbean Cup is a biennial competition that crowns the region's champion and qualifies at least four teams to the CONCACAF Gold Cup. The first-round will be contested between 21 teams in seven evenly-split groups from March 21-29, 2016.
The British Virgin Islands opens play in Group 7 of the First Round on March 22 in Martinique before returning to the host Dominica in Tortola on March 26.
The Fighting Tiger teammates will look to get their first action together with The Nature Boyz when they travel to Martinique for what could be the first international appearance for Jones, Quinn and Fines and what could be the 13th cap for Casear who has been the BVI's national team captain at the Stade d'Honneur de Dillon in Fort-de-France Bay, Martinique.
The following match in Tortola, British Virgin Islands on March 26 against Dominica at the A.O. Shirley Recreation Ground.
"We are excited for Lewis, James and Josh get called in to national team camp for the first time and join Troy, who will be looking to represent the BVI for the thirteenth time," said head coach Rudy Roediger. "Our desire as a program is to provide an environment that cultivates success and high expectations in our players as we prepare them for the next place as a student, athlete and person. These four have earned this great opportunity that most only dream of."
Jones, Quinn, Fines and Ceasar helped lead Andrew College to an incredible turn-around season in 2015. The Fighting Tigers made strides to return to one of the top programs in the Southeast District and proved it by earning the No. 16 national ranking in both the National Junior College Athletic Association Division I Coaches Poll and the National Soccer Coaches Association of America NJCAA Division I Poll.
The Fighting Tigers posted a 10-8-0 record in 2015 after going 2-16-0 in 2014, good for the second-most improved win-loss record in the nation with an improvement of +8.
For head coach Rudy Roediger who helped Bluefield College (Va.) to a +6.5 in 2012 and Montreat College (N.C.) in 2013 to +4, the +8 improvement in 2015 marked the biggest single-season turnaround as a collegiate coach.
The 10 wins in the regular season for Andrew College, equaled the total wins of the 2012, 2013 and 2014 campaigns.
This season the Fighting Tigers came out hot, winning seven straight matches by a combined 27-5 margin. This included defeating two programs that came to Cuthbert, Ga., receiving votes in the preseason NJCAA Coaches Poll when Andrew knocked off Patrick Henry CC (Va.) and Broward College (Fla.) by identical 2-1 score lines in the 2015 Andrew College Kickoff Classic.
Those wins over Patrick Henry and Broward snapped a streak of 23 straight losses by the Fighting Tigers to NJCAA Division I opponents that lasted a combined 1,054 days.
In all Andrew defeated six NJCAA Division I opponents in 2015 and went undefeated in August with four wins against opponents from Florida, Mississippi and Virginia and finished September with a 9-3-0 overall record.
Ceasar has already made an impact with the BVI, appearing in 12 matches, including nine FIFA matches. A Region 17 All-Tournament Team honoree, the Road Town, British Virgin Islands native started a team-high 17 matches in his debut season for the Fighting Tigers and helped Andrew to a defensive turnaround from 2014. The Fighting Tigers kept three shutouts with the British Virgin Islands National Team captain on the field and allowed 51 fewer goals from the year before his arrival.
A First Team All-Region 17 honoree, Jones made an immediate impact with the Fighting Tigers this year after transferring from NAIA Montreat College (N.C.) where he earned 2013 Second Team All-Appalachian Athletic Conference honors in 2013. The native of Liverpool, England, recorded an NJCAA Region 17 regular season best nine assists for the Fighting Tigers and chipped in with a the second-most goals on the team (5) to record the second most points (19) for AC.
Quinn, a native of Slough, England, played a key role for the Fighting Tigers defense and provided four goals and five assists from left back to earn First Team All-Region 17. Quinn went 3-for-3 from the penalty spot in his freshman season and provided the team's opening season goal with an assist against Patrick Henry CC (Va.) in the 2-1 victory over the Patriots.
Fines, a native of Farnborough, England, was a key member of the Fighting Tigers defense all season on his way to be Second Team All-Region 17 honors. The first-year player started in 16 of AC's games in his debut season. The 6-foot-2 central defender helped the Fighting Tigers to three clean sheets while adding a goal and two assists from his defensive role. Fines provided his first career assist as the Fighting Tigers jumped out to a 4-0 first half lead on Aug. 28, before defeating East Central CC (Miss.) 6-1 and then netted his first collegiate goal on Sept. 26, in a 5-1 come-from-behind victory on the road over Oxford (Ga.).