Lexington Girls Soccer Get 400th Win for Chris Fryland By Thomas Grant Jr. | thomas@lexingtonchronicle.com
There was a special presentation planned Monday night at Wildcat Stadium for a coaching milestone.
Longtime Lexington High School girls' soccer coach Chris Fryland entered the non-region home contest against Spring Valley a win shy of 400 for his career. Only Riverside's Terry Archenhold with 419 has won more games in S.C. High School League history.
The Lady Wildcats more than did their part to earn Fryland that prestigious win. A total of three players scored goals in the first 36 minutes of the match.
As halftime approached, however, weather and an unexpected injury put a damper on post-game plans. With 3:44 left in the first half, Spring Valley senior captain Sydney Hudock went down.
She laid on her back for several minutes receiving treatment before Lexington County EMS arrived to transport Hudock off the field. As the rainfall intensified, the two coaches agreed to cut short the first half and call the game in favor of Lexington 4-0.
The worsening weather also prevented the Lady Wildcats from giving Fryland his commemorative balloon and other fitting gifts in honor of his milestone. Instead, Fryland spoke humbly about the key of his success in 26 seasons at Lexington.
"I think the most important thing to remember is I've never scored a goal," he said. "I've never had an assist. I've never made a save. ... So it's all about the players that have gone through this program here. So you've got to give them full credit for this. They're the ones that have earned all this and Lexington soccer has a great reputation of putting out pretty good soccer players."
It was a team effort Monday with two goals by Logan Kitts in the first 14 minutes. Trinity Broach and Ava Brown added two more goals before the Hudock injury.
The victory improved the Lady Wildcats to 5-0-2. They return to action Tuesday in Columbia against A.C. Flora.
