Three games into Mississippi’s season, Josh Pantazelos was just another back-up goalkeeper with zero minutes played in the 2009 season. Thirteen games later, Pantazelos ranks at or near the top of nearly every goalkeeping category in the Premier Development League, and is preparing to guard the net for Mississippi Brilla in the biggest game of their three-year history.
 
"Coming into the season we expected Josh to be our back-up keeper, and hoped he would battle for some playing time," said Rusty Bryant, President and General Manager. "To be honest, we really just did not know much about him."
 
Pantazelos came to Mississippi for the summer from the highly acclaimed soccer program at the University of Akron. However, Pantazelos had only seen 45 minutes of action in his 2008 redshirt freshman season.
 
"We brought in two very young keepers this year," added Bryant. "We were putting alot of faith in two guys we knew very little about. Our hope was that they would rise to the occasion and lead our team from their important position on the field."
 
The young goalkeepers did not disappoint. Clark Hankins, fresh off his freshman season at the College of Charleston, got the starting nod for the first three games and led Mississippi to a 2-0-1 start. The solid play of Hankins jump started the team, and led them to the brink of their first ever US Open Cup berth.
 
Head Coach Dave Dixon commented, "Clark played great in those first three games. We just felt Josh deserved some playing time for the hard work that he was putting in at training."
 
Patazelos started the team’s fourth game of the season and earned a 1-0 shutout to help Mississippi qualify for the US Open Cup. Pantazelos continued his solid play, and did not come out of the goal for the rest of the season.
 
"About half-way through the season I overheard another team talking about their goalkeeper leading the league in shutouts," recalls Bryant. "I decided to look at Josh’s statistics, and discovered that he was already nearing the top of all of the goalkeeper categories. He just seemed to go about his business and not get any of the recognition."
 
As strong as Pantazelos and Mississippi started their season, they finished the season even stronger. The final statistics show Pantazelos leading the Premier Development League with 8 shutouts and a 0.615 goals against average in 13 games. He is also tied for third in the league with only 8 goals allowed on the season, and is eighth in both wins (7) and saves (68).
 
Mississippi Brilla capped off a 9-1-6 regular season this past Saturday with a 3-0 shutout of Central Florida. The win vaulted them to the top of the Southeast Division, and earned them the right to host their first ever playoff game on Saturday, July 25 at 7:00 pm at Millsaps College in Jackson. When Mississippi takes the field for the most important match in their three-year history, Josh Pantezelos, of course, will be tending the goal...a place he has been since the fourth game of the season. Only now he is a familiar face in the goal, and the indisputable leader of a Mississippi team bound for the playoffs.