DENVER – When Ken Parsons took over as MSU Denver's men's soccer coach shortly before the 2004 season was set to start, he looked over notes on players that were left for him from Roadrunners coaches.
He had a newcomer to the program coming in, Phillip Owen, and the notes said, "he should be your starting central midfielder."
"I thought that was a pretty bold statement," Parsons said.
And it turned to be false.
"He probably could've been our central midfielder, but we had more important needs up top," Parsons said. "And he ended up just becoming the program's all-time leading scorer. I don't think his resume would have been much different over the course of four years, but the trajectory of our program and the other players we were able to recruit changed because of him."
In his four seasons, Owen set program records that still stand for goals (53), points (132) and game-winning goals (16), and he's second in career assists (26).
He scored 23 goals and had 50 points in just his freshman season, which are both still program records, and his 19 goals in 2007 ranks second. When teams tried to lock him up in 2005, Owen merely set the program's single-season record for assists with 14.
Needless to say, Owen's entry into MSU Denver's Athletics Hall of Fame has been expected for quite some time.
He will be inducted on Saturday, along with men's basketball star Jonathan Morse, women's track & field and cross country standout Breanna Hemming, and women's soccer great Courtney Ryan, who later distinguished herself as a member of the bronze medal-winning Team USA wheelchair basketball team at the Paralympic Games.
Tickets to the ceremony at the SpringHill Suites Denver Downtown on the MSU Denver campus are $50 for adults and $25 for children 12 and under. A social hour is set for 6 p.m., with the program to follow at 7.
A member of the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference's All-Time Team in men's soccer, Owen was a four-time All-RMAC honoree – including three selections to the first team – was a three-time all-region player, and he also earned Academic All-America honors.
"He was just the consummate professional in his approach to everything," Parsons said. "He was always one of the most fit players on the team. He worked hard, and he was very good in the classroom."
An integrated therapeutic practices major, with an emphasis in holistic medicine, Owen has some specific coursework that eventually required him to miss Wednesday practices during his senior season.
"I think everyone has a pretty good idea of what holistic medicine is now, but back in 2007 – Phil was just ahead of his time in that area, too," Parsons said. "He was worried about missing training, though, even though I told him that I didn't think his soccer skills were going to diminish if he missed a day of training each week.
"But any time he had a test and got out early, of if class was canceled, you'd see him coming up to train, putting on his socks and boots. A lot of players might have taken advantage of it and just taken the day off, but not Phil."
After originally enrolling to play at another school and then taking time off from school, Owen was older than most freshmen when that 2004 season began. Ultimately his age likely played a part in preventing him from establishing himself as a professional player, Parsons said.
What he did on the field as a Roadrunner, though, can never be taken away.
"How to keep track of all those goals and assists, it's just hard to do," Parsons said. "But they were all pretty important, no matter who we were playing."
Parsons also appreciated what Owen brought to the field every day.
During Owen's career, the Roadrunners were 57-21-8, made two trips to the NCAA Tournament, and won an RMAC regular-season title as well as an RMAC Tournament title.
"I don't think anyone would argue if I said that Phil was a free spirit," Parsons said. "Individual awards and accolades, those are things Phil never put on his bucket list – if they came, great, but he was just going to work hard."
