GREENVILLE — When it comes to soccer, Dale Grimm knows both ends of the spectrum.

As a fullback and sweeper at Karns City, Grimm was part of Gremlin teams that won a District 9 championship his senior year, reached the district finals during his junior campaign and lost approximately 10 games in four years.

Since moving on to Thiel College, Grimm has needed ankle surgery and has been part of a Tomcat program that is 8-38-3 over the past three years, including 2-25-1 on the road.

"We're ready to break through here," Grimm said. "We want to make the playoffs and our big goal is to win the PAC. Honestly, I expect to do both."

Such an attitude is one of the reasons Grimm was selected as the team captain last year and again this season by third-year coach Andy Hoggarth.

Thiel has never made the playoffs in the program's history, let alone won a league title.

"He'll never be the best player on the field, but he'll never do a bad job, either," Hoggarth said of Grimm. "Dale knows positional soccer so well.

"He'll play everywhere for us because he's a go-to guy on the field. He knows how to bring other players out there with him into the game."

Grimm will play defender and center-midfield for the Tomcats this fall. An overtime loss to conclude last season left the Tomcats with a 5-12-1 overall record — one win shy of tying the school record.

The team finished 1-14-1 and 2-14-1 during Grimm's first two years there.

"We've gotten a little better each year," Grimm said. "My first year here, we were terrible. Last year, we played three overtime games and lost them all.

"We're going to turn those close losses into wins this time around."

Grimm was unable to contribute much last season. He suffered an ankle injury in the season's third game, tried coming back late in the year and wound up needing surgery.

"I was involved in a tackle, got tangled up and my ankle was driven straight back," Grimm said. "At first, (doctors) thought it was just a bad sprain.

"When I tried playing in a game after that, I had no lateral movement and couldn't cut at all and took myself out after 10 minutes. The ankle was examined again and they found the patella tendon was torn off the bone."

Grimm didn't have surgery until Dec. 29. He has tallied one assist in three years of soccer at Thiel.

"It's not about scoring for him," Hoggarth said. "Dale is a small, tenacious hard-working player who understands his role. He plays the ball off to our better players extremely well.

"This is a kid who knows about winning and he badly wants to win here."

Grimm opted for Thiel in the first place because the small-school atmosphere reminded him of Karns City and he liked the coach, Kevin Wilhelm, who recruited him.

Since Wilhelm moved on, Grimm likes Hoggarth even better.

"He's bringing the program along," Grimm said. "We're definitely a playoff-caliber team."

While two-time All-PAC performer Chad Swisher returns as last year's leading scorer with six goals and 14 points, Thiel's next three point producers from a year ago all graduated.

Grimm may seem more time up front this year as a result.

"I'll play wherever they need me, whatever we need to win" he said.