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Bell’s endeavours rewarded

Detre Bell

Detre Bell is reaping the rewards from all the hard work he has put in on the training ground in pursuit of his objectives.

The California State University Bakersfield goalkeeper set out this season to become the best in the Western Athletic Conference and achieved just that after earning All-WAC Team Honours this week.

Bell was truly deserving of the honour having produced 49 saves, kept four clean sheets and made WAC Play of the Week with a leaping save during the regular season.

“It was a great feeling when they selected me,” he said.

“All off season I put in a lot of work and set goals I wanted to achieve, which was to be a top keeper in college soccer and keeper of the year in my conference, and these things don’t happen without the work, so it was a great feeling.”

Bell demonstrated why he was chosen for the award by the league’s 12 head coaches by producing another outstanding display between the posts to help CSU Bakersfield to 1-0 win over fifth-seeded San Jose State Spartans in a WAC Championship quarter-final match in Denver, Colorado on Wednesday.

The 22-year-old, who plays locally for North Village, made a string of saves that included a diving penalty save.

“It was a tough game,” Bell said. “It was all about who wanted it more, talent wasn’t going to win the game.

“The locker room talk was about grit and heart, and that’s how we won the game.”

Bell and his team-mates are back in action today when they face top seeds Seattle University in the WAC Championship semi-final.

“Seattle will be an even tougher opponent,” he added. “They won the league this year but we are more than prepared.”

CSU Bakersfield finished fourth in the 12-team WAC standings to clinch their spot in the postseason championship.

“This season has been a rollercoaster for us,” Bell added.

“We didn’t start off the way we wanted to. But we finished off the way we wanted and put ourselves in a great position to achieve great things moving forward.”

Detre Bell
Detre Bell