Julian Gonzalez, senior men’s soccer forward, broke the all-time scoring record Saturday with a hat trick, notching his 50th career goal against Allegheny College. J.R. Foster ‘02 previously held the record with 48 goals. Gonzalez scored all three goals in the first half pushing his season total to 16. His performance led the Tigers to a 4-0 win and the final spot in the North Coast Athletic Conference Tournament.
TDP: When did you first think that breaking the all-time scoring record was achievable?
Gonzalez: Really the first time the topic came up was freshmen year when I had my season best, 14 goals. My coach sat me down at the end of the season. He basically told me if I keep up this production I could get it. I had it in the back of my mind from there on out. Despite that I really didn’t want it to dictate how I played. If it happened that’d be great. I knew that if I didn’t worry about it I would play better so I just made sure to prioritize winning with my team. The main goal was winning the conference tournament and trying my best to help the team any way I could.
TDP: You were able to get a hat trick in less than 20 minutes that game. What allowed that level of scoring?
Gonzalez: It was a must win game. If we would’ve lost, the season would have been over. With everything on the line, we had to take advantage from the very start. First fifteen minutes I wanted to take advantages of my chances. It worked out with some lucky bounces and I was at the right place at the right time. The pressure of the game definitely helped my performance and everyone else’s.
TDP: What was it like breaking this landmark on your senior day?
Gonzalez: The setting couldn’t have been better. First off, it was something that I wouldn’t have been able to accomplish without my teammates. Andy Morrison , a former teammate and on the all-time goal list was in attendance. He always motivated me and kept me grounded. My parents were there and my brother also flew in from New York so it was nice to have them there to see the accomplishment and share that moment with those people.
TDP: What do you guys need to do to succeed in the conference tournament?
Gonzalez: I think we’ve always been a team that plays well against good teams. Our biggest weakness is when we play down to our level. It’s win or go home and if we leave everything else down on the field and do well at the fundamentals we can do some damage. Kenyon, Case Western, and Ohio Wesleyan were all really good teams that we were able to be competitive with so we know we can do it. Every day could be our last. We hope to keep playing and hopefully we can do well and get that automatic bid to the tournament.