Reno, NV - In just their fifth season of action since the formation of the soccer programs in 2019, Truckee Meadows Community College Men's Soccer proved that even the smaller junior college programs can find success among the much larger schools. After 19 games played, let's take a deep dive into the high's and low's of 2023.

The Numbers
The Mighty Lizards bounced back from their struggles in 2022 and finished this fall with a 9-7-3 overall record and a 5-5-2 conference record, which is their best conference finish in program history. TMCC scored 46 total goals throughout the season, averaging 2.42 goals/game. Second-year athlete Jose Martinez led TMCC with five goals and three assists throughout the season. With his performance, Martinez ties Mighty Lizard alumni Adolfo Sanchez for most goals per season in program history. Multiple Mighty Lizards finished the regular season with four goals, including first-year athlete Brandon Escobedo and second-year athletes Landon Allen and Ricky Cortes. As for Cortes, his four goals were the most by a defender in program history.

Awards
Truckee Meadows found a will to win early on in the season, which ultimately led to a postseason berth and a number of Mighty Lizards recognized for their play throughout the season. Isaac Poole earned Goalkeeper of the Week honors the first week of September for multiple shutout performances early in the season. Additionally, Christian Martinez picked up Goalkeeper of the Week honors for his shutout performance against CSN. Six Mighty Lizards earned All-Region honors for their quality of play throughout the season: Landon Allen (Region XVIII First Team), Alan Gutierrez (Region XVIII First Team), Alex Barbosa (Region XVIII First Team), Brandon Escobedo (Region XVIII Second Team), Jose Martinez (Region XVIII Third Team), and Ryan Soto (Region XVIII Third Team). Additional awards handed out by coach Kyle Kelly include Most Valuable Player (Gutierrez), Best Offensive Player (Barbosa), Best Defensive Player (Diego Lopez), Most Inspirational (Poole), Most Improved (Vision Adhikari) and the Mighty Lizard Award (Allen).

Competitive Nature
While the up's outshined the down's for the majority of the season, the Mighty Lizards still found plenty to take away after each game, whether the result be a win, loss or draw. After going on a six game win streak towards the start of the season, TMCC had numerous close calls with ranked opponents, ultimately tying #14 Utah State Eastern and #2 Salt Lake Community College which proved signs of potential towards the conference, our fans and the team itself. A crucial 1-0 loss at Colorado Northwestern followed by a 4-3 loss at CSN proved to be detrimental towards playoff seeding, which knocked TMCC down from third to fourth heading into postseason play. 

Eyes on 2024
With the 2023 season having come and gone, head coach Kyle Kelly will now look to recruit new talent to replace his 12 outgoing sophomores. As 2024 dawns upon the program, Kelly hopes to keep competitive spirits up throughout the offseason with numerous spring games in hopes of replicating another historic run.