Despite losing a solid group of seniors from last year’s state championship team, Wando boys head coach Shilo Tisdale thought he would have a good team in 2013.
Even when four players, all capable of an all-state season, decided not to play high school soccer in favor of playing with a US Soccer Developmental Academy team, Tisdale still thought the Warriors would be good.
He just didn’t know how good.
[show_disconnected][show_to accesslevel=’Subscriber’] Well, 15 games into the season his team is unbeaten at 15-0-0 and ranked #1 in the NSCAA boys spring national rankings.
“The players we had coming back, they were team-oriented and unselfish,” Tisdale told The Post and Courier in a recent article. “They’ve done well in the club program and they’ve done well here. They were just in the shadow of other people’s names.”
The Academy draw didn’t drain all the talent off the Wando sidelines. Seniors Eric Clark and Andrew Davis have provided solid leadership as senior captains.
Clark, who leads the Warriors in scoring with 17 goals and 18 assists, is headed to the College of Charleston in the fall, where he will play soccer. Davis has signed to play for the South Carolina Gamecocks.
Wando received the top ranking after winning the Nike Palmetto Cup, going from being unranked to #1.
“Being #1 in the nation makes us a big target,” said Tisdale. “We have it. The only way we can lose it is if we give it away.”
The Warriors obviously are the top team in the NSCAA Region I poll. Greenville’s St. Joseph’s is ranked third in the region’s boys poll, with J.L. Mann, also in Greenville, ranked #6.
Myrtle Beach is the other S.C. boys team with a regional ranking, coming in #9.
Riverside High School (Greer), 11-0-1 when the last poll was taken, is the top ranked team in South Carolina and the #1 team in the NSCAA’s Region II rankings. Mauldin High School is ranked #7 in the region and Lexington High School is #9.
Even when four players, all capable of an all-state season, decided not to play high school soccer in favor of playing with a US Soccer Developmental Academy team, Tisdale still thought the Warriors would be good.
He just didn’t know how good.
[show_disconnected][show_to accesslevel=’Subscriber’] Well, 15 games into the season his team is unbeaten at 15-0-0 and ranked #1 in the NSCAA boys spring national rankings.
“The players we had coming back, they were team-oriented and unselfish,” Tisdale told The Post and Courier in a recent article. “They’ve done well in the club program and they’ve done well here. They were just in the shadow of other people’s names.”
The Academy draw didn’t drain all the talent off the Wando sidelines. Seniors Eric Clark and Andrew Davis have provided solid leadership as senior captains.
Clark, who leads the Warriors in scoring with 17 goals and 18 assists, is headed to the College of Charleston in the fall, where he will play soccer. Davis has signed to play for the South Carolina Gamecocks.
Wando received the top ranking after winning the Nike Palmetto Cup, going from being unranked to #1.
“Being #1 in the nation makes us a big target,” said Tisdale. “We have it. The only way we can lose it is if we give it away.”
The Warriors obviously are the top team in the NSCAA Region I poll. Greenville’s St. Joseph’s is ranked third in the region’s boys poll, with J.L. Mann, also in Greenville, ranked #6.
Myrtle Beach is the other S.C. boys team with a regional ranking, coming in #9.
Riverside High School (Greer), 11-0-1 when the last poll was taken, is the top ranked team in South Carolina and the #1 team in the NSCAA’s Region II rankings. Mauldin High School is ranked #7 in the region and Lexington High School is #9.
[/show_to][hide_from accesslevel=’Subscriber’]
Your subscription has expired please Subscribe to Southern Soccer Scene to view full article and get all the news in your mailbox![/hide_from]