Ellis: Chargers can achieve beyond last season

By News-Argus Staff
Published in Sports on August 14, 2014 1:48 PM

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rcoggins@newsargus.com

The whole is greater than the sum of its parts.

Sounds cliche, doesn't it?

But Aristotle's timeless quote is a perfect description of the 2014 edition of the Wayne Country Day boys' soccer team. Eleven players return off of last year's squad which captured the program's first-ever Coastal Plains Independent 1-A/2-A Conference regular-season championship.

Nearly 60 percent of the scoring is back.

But head coach Steve Ellis contends it's "sort of a rebuilding year" for the Chargers, who lost a pair of all-state performers and five starters overall.

"We have a young varsity team this year with a few players playing varsity and JV," Ellis said. "The biggest factor we have, and our older players mentioned this during our first week of practice, is that we play as a team.

"That is what pushed us last year."

Wayne Country Day limped to a 3-6-2 record through mid-September, then reeled off eight consecutive wins that included four consecutive one-goal decisions. The Chargers concluded their 2013 campaign with a 1-0 loss to perennial power Ridgecroft in the elite eight of the N.C. Independent Schools Athletic Association 1-A tournament.

Ellis attributed the late-season surge to the players' ability to grasp the concept of teamwork and understanding that the name on the front of the jersey meant more than the name on the back.

Although 40 percent of the offense graduated, WCDS expects to put five multiple-goal scorers on the pitch when the season kicks off Aug. 18 against Oakwood School. Matt Kierski, who earned all-state recognition last season, Jacob Magera and Noah Adkins delivered six goals apiece.

The trio combined for 44 points.

Also back are defenders Parker Smith, Hayes Gerrard and Lee McDonald. Junior Charlie Roethling, who supplied three goals a year ago, joins Kierski and Magera in the midfield.

Keeper Patrick Hall returns to defend the net.

"I'm looking at Noah, John Thompson and Sam Smith to step up and fill the gaps left," Ellis said. "Hunter Bryson is going to be a huge help as the team pushes forward for goals. Every player brings something to this team in his demeanor and mannerisms.

"Skill level can vary, but they all know that nobody is more important than the whole."

Especially in CPIC play.

An automatic postseason bid is not available this season since the split-classification league doesn't meet the criteria set by the NCISAA. A conference must have four teams in the same class to earn the AQ.

A team's fate will undoubtedly rest on its non-conference success. The NCISAA is expected to award four AQs and eight at-large bids.

"The CPIC is a tough conference to win," Ellis said. "Greenfield and Freedom (2-A) are good teams and you have to play well against them to get something out of the game. We are playing extra non-conference games and if we work hard to get the right result, I'm sure it will bode well for the playoffs.

"I would like us to push as best we can to repeat our success from last year, who wouldn't?"