The Tribune

By RENALDO DORSETT

Tribune Sports Reporter

rdorsett@tribunemedia.net

Elijah Mitchell continues his stellar early season play for the Birmingham-Southern Panthers men’s soccer programme and has scored three points in his first two games.

Two days after he scored a goal in his collegiate debut, Mitchell finished with an assist in the Panthers’ 4-1 win over Faulkner University.

“All in all it’s just me trying to keep it simple, me just trying to play my game,” Mitchell said following the win,

“It hasn’t been a smooth preseason but I’m just getting better each and every day.”

The Panthers have opened the season with four goals in consecutive games after a 4-0 win over Huntingdon College on September 1.

The freshman forward recovered a loose ball in the box and netted the go ahead score on the right side of the net over the outstretched hands of keeper Joshua Burton.

Mitchell came to the Panthers out of the Darlington Academy in Rome, Georgia.

The Panthers compete in the Southern Athletic Association in NCAA Division III. They finished last season at 9-4 and look to claim their second consecutive SAA postseason title.

Panthers head coach Greg Vinson said Mitchell is one of the promising newcomers expected to contribute immediately.

“Elijah Mitchell is our lone international player from the Bahamas, but he does have a ton of experience playing soccer in the United States,” he said,

“Our goal is to always win the conference tournament because that is an automatic bid to the national tournament. That is our goal, everything else is preparation for that.”

The Panthers have yet to play a game on the road after they had a match against the Mississippi University for Women postponed on September 3 and a match against Belhaven University postponed on September 7.

The Panthers will finally hit the road on September 10 when they travel to Thousand Oaks, California to face California Lutheran University.

Locally, Mitchell has been a national team member at both the junior and senior levels. He had his first senior national team cap earlier this year against St Kitts and Nevis and Guyana in the 2022 FIFA World Cup Qualifying - CONCACAF, First Round.

Prior to leaving for Darlington Academy, Mitchel helped Queen’s College to back-to-back BAISS titles. In 2019, Mitchell was one of three players chosen to play in the world renowned Gothia Cup in Gothenburg, Sweden.