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Gilmour enjoyed highlight season
Former Howland soccer player was noticed by ESPN
By Brian Dzenis
Connor Gilmour hasn’t changed much since his Howland High School soccer days.
Not even the exposure of ESPN can give him an ego. The ex-Tiger capped his junior year at Division II Cedarville and had a highlight-filled season with the Hornets.
The one that caught the attention of the Worldwide Leader was a goal that impresses regardless of the level of soccer.
During a Sept. 30 contest against Mercyhurst, the game was tied 1-1 with eight minutes to go with Cedarville taking a corner kick. The kick was punched out of the air by the Lakers’ goaltender, but a diving header from the Hornets’ Jon Brown put the ball back in the box.
The header made its way to Gilmour, who scissor-kicked the ball into the lower left corner of the net despite having his back to the goal as the ball was airborne.
The goal gave the Hornets a 2-1 victory and Gilmour’s goal was put on ESPN online video hub.
The former Vindicator Player of the Year likes seeing ESPN appear next to his name in a Google search, but he’d like to have his faith mentioned as well.
“It’s cool to see that and sometimes it takes away from where I get my ability from,” Gilmour said. “I always see [my skills] as a gift to me [from God].”
Soccer and mission work, those are the two of Gilmour’s finest talents. In the former, he had a banner year with the Hornets.
As the team’s leading scorer with 17 goals and three assists, he led the team to its first NCAA Tournament appearance.
When Gilmour started his Cedarville career, the team was in a transition year moving from NAIA to NCAA Division II.
The Hornets made it to the second round before falling, 3-0, to Rockhurst on Nov. 14.
“I think we proved we belonged there, but leading up to it, it was a lot of hard work,” Gilmour said. “It took a lot of trust between the players and the coaches and what they think is best.
“I think it was how we reacted to not making it the first two years and how we built from that defined our success this year going into the tournament.”
Division II men’s soccer is one of the few college sports where a conference title does not guarantee a bid to the NCAA Tournament. It’s a lesson the Hornets learned the hard way as they were snubbed despite winning the Greater Midwestern Athletic Conference in 2013 and 2014.
The stronger non-conference record plus a third-straight GMAC title proved to be enough this time around. Gilmour credits his career year to spending the summer with the Charlotte Eagles, a member of the United Soccer League’s Premier Development League.
“It’s mostly just college guys who want to keep playing in the summer. We ended up having a really good team and it really helped the transition into this season,” Gilmour said. “Not allowing that big summer break allows you to get kind of a head start coming into the season.”
He has one year of eligibility left with Cedarville due him taking a redshirt in 2012. When his college days are done, Gilmour says he’d like to pursue a professional soccer career. In the offseason, he and some of his teammates and others are planning a trip to Austria.
The mission is two-fold, Gilmour would like to play a friendly against RB Salzburg of the Austrian Bundesliga or one of the lower tier Austrian sides failing that.
He also wants to spend some time doing ministry and aid work with Syrian refugees. Austria is a common pit stop for them as they try and seek asylum with other Western nations. While the subject of how to aide the refugees has become a divisive debate in the U.S., Gilmour isn’t taking a side.
“It’s an awkward question to answer. Obviously, you want to show love and hospitality to those who are struggling,” Gilmour said. “On the other hand do we want to take people out of their country — those people that want to see change — but if you take them out of the country, who’s going to change it from the inside? I don’t know.”
He’ll stay humble no matter where he goes or if he reels off another YouTube gem. He’ll just chalk it up to providence.
“Usually that stuff is luck. That game was a lot of fun and it all came down to the last few minutes,” Gilmour said. “It’s fun to try stuff like that. Being a little risky in the box was a lot of fun.”