SC Soccer Forums SCSoccer.com Forums Boys Varsity Soccer Pre Season Top 15 All Classifications

1. Dutch Fork

Loaded. Region III member Danny Cates is back for the foxes. Amacker leads an inpressive back line for DF. Solid GK Play will help them out also.

2. Irmo
Return a prolific midfield w/ Prince and Monroe(if eligible). Irmo is Irmo. Just reload.

3. Northwestern
Return a prolific HS goal scorer in Arroyo(sp). Benson in the midfield is a play maker.If they mesh with new HC Dom Wren NW could be back in the title game.

4. South Aiken

JAMAL GEATHERS. When he is on unstoppable. Can caryy the T-Breds by himself(which he might be doing)he does have the big CM returning w/ him.

5. Brookland-Cayce

USC Committment Andrew Evans will lead a Sr heavy team for the Barcats. last time Heise had a team this dynamic they wound up in the title game.

6. Greenville

Finotti takes over one of the states most talented programs. Youth could be a drawback but talent will not be.All - State premformers Balir Rushing (sp)and Jack Johnston return to lead the Red Raiders.

7. Eastside

With Renferigo (sp) back Eastside will again challenge for the upper state crown in AAA.

8.Fort Mill

Trey Foster and Nic Schumen(sp) lead a veteran cast. Batlle NW for upstate bragging rights.

9.Wando

A reloading year for the warriors but lots of young talent

10. Daniel

Seth K should lead this side to a battle w/ Greenville for upper state rep in AAA

11. James Island
Coach Todd robinson should finally have a full squad to choose from.Team should be a force in the Lower State.

12. Riverside

Should "rebound" and be another force in AAA. Brian Dender's second year at the helm should help out the Warriors.

13. Bishop England

Jr GK Phillip Ricciardone might be the best GK in SC . If the Bishops can replace the goal scoring of Kyle Smith, they can play with anyone.


14. TL Hanna

Veteran Coach Dick Smith should have a more expierienced team after taking some lumps last year. His teams seem to "peak" at the right time

15. Dreher

Led by Sr Gk G. Rushe and Sr CB Karl Anderson the Blue Devils are sure to be a force in AAA. They have a wild card in the Smith kid as well.

For the uneducated....

Why is there seemingly less 4A good SOCCER schools in the Greenville area than the mid or Low? (by the way not in the list, in general). All the "skill" seems to be in the 3A and 2A divisions.

there are twice as many AAA teams.

MB and NMB and Soc all lost a lot of Srs. Could crack the top 15 once the season starts....but too many other teams return too much imho.

kick

of course the massey ratings are the best but i was wondering what the posters on this board were thinking.


and by no means are mine right just how I rank the teams from my knowledge which is probably less than most of you.

It's not time to start the ranking thing again is it? This list has some serious holes in it but I'm not sure that this preseason list is any more or less acurate than anyone elses. It all depends on ones point of view.

Kyle,

Please erase this bunk red neck post or place it else where please.


2004 please save your immature anitcs for Shearer or another venue. This was aimed at serious/knowledgeable fans which you are not. please fell free to ignore all post I make.That way I may avoid you.

the next time I will not be as nice. Just ask Beaumont.

Robbie,
Its not an official pre-season poll. Its not a real league, either. Its fiction with fictional characters.

Well then go post it on you fictional website for your fictional "super" club.

Stroke- Excellent! Glad to see ole cousin Joe and Bo are getting some recognition! I don't think you give Mullins enough credit though.. the Auctioneers should challenge the rest of the field..do to their speed..and incredible diction.

LE dudeman,
Loris v. Mullins matches will again be the highlites of the year. But last year was uglyyy!!
Ever notice how many schools in SC are named after a Mom???
Mullins last year:
03/01 Cheraw (4-7-0) L 0-10
03/03 Andrews (7-9-0) L 0-6
03/08 at Waccamaw(05) (13-9-0) L 0-7
03/10 Marion (9-6-0) L 0-10
03/15 at Cheraw (4-7-0) L 0-13
03/16 * Loris (6-10-0) L 0-1
04/05 at Andrews (7-9-0) L 0-8
04/20 * Waccamaw(05) (13-9-0) L 0-7
04/23 * at Loris (6-10-0) L 0-1

Goals Scored: 0 - Goals Allowed: 63

I have to give it to you buddy.. you're a senial old fool..but you do your research!

I thought it was pretty funny

i agree

Hey Ordell,

How is Dorman left off your list? They were extremely young and lost only a player or two. I would put them ahead of Fort Mill as I recall FM losing quite abit.

Secondly, I am alittle skeptical of SA. I am not sure if Jamal can do it on his own. They also lost a ton. Plus coaching holds them back.

Now that I have critiqued your rankings, I will take a stab at them.

1. Dutch Fork/Northwestern -- Hard to distinguish between these two. NW is senior loaded with some of them only losing 4 or 5 games in their career.

3. Greenville -- Finotti. Need I say anymore. Quality players, seniors to freshmen.

4. Irmo -- Lost a ton. Older CSC teams do not have alot of IHS players. Do they have a GK? Monroe and Prince are two of the better players, but whats after that?

5. Eastside -- Once again, question mark as to how much they lost and can they be replaced.

6. Dorman -- Stated their positives above. Plus Finotti is gone so they won't take anymore 7-0 losses.

7. Wando -- Any program getting to choose from as many as they do will be top 10 every year. They will find a way to reload.

8. Brookland Cayce -- Who else other than Andrew Evans? Heise will have them ready to play.

9. Bishop England -- Good GKs are hard to come by. Will keep them in alot of matches.

10. Fort Mill -- Discussed them above.

11. Riverside -- decent year last year even after the head coach leaving at the beginning of the season.

12. Spring Valley -- Dave Clark has done more with less the last few years. Quality players in the Flynn brothers and also the Parker kid.

13. Beach team -- I do not know enough about those three teams, but at least one has been quality the last few years. Maybe someone can fill me in.

14. Ridgeview -- Darlington will have them ready to play. 18s and 16s at NECSA are pretty good and they have a few from there.

15. Dreher -- good GK, not much else. Was not impressed last year when I saw them in the BC tourney.

Before someone jumps on me, I realized that I left out South Aiken. I guess they go somewhere around 7 or 8, probably behind Dorman. Coaching hurts them without all the Fire boys there. Does Jamal even play HS soccer?

Mauldin returns nine starters and only loses a few players in total, depending on how you want to count them. They only lost to three different teams last year (NW, Greenville, and Dorman), and should compete for Region 2 4A against Dorman and even upper state 4A, but it's really fun seeing them ignored from most everyone's list.

Mauldin is another team that is lacking in the head coaching department. Thought it was a rule that all MHS coaches had to teach at the high school?

You better have Riverside included in the top list, because the Warriors are back!

Loc,
Yo man. That was quite a shot you took at Osorio.That's cold bro.

What about Mauldin. Mauldin will do what Mauldin does every year. Have a decent regular season and lose in the first or second round. I don't know what their problem is. They always have good players but are never able to get over that hump.

1 dutch fork
2 SA
3 BC
3 Irmo
4 Greenville
5 Northwestern
6 Eastside
7 MB
8 Fort Mill
9 Dorman
10 Spring Valley
11 Ridge View
12 Wando
13 Bishop England
14 Socastee
15
I'm gonna let the people who know me guess who my 15th spot goes to

Heathwood?

Sumter?

I have been told that Riverside will be very good this year. My people up there in Greenville say that they have a ton of players from the CESA club. Why aren't they listed in most of these hs rankings/predictions?

From what I have seen, Pinewood will be legit again this year. They should be listed in anyone's top 15 regardless of classification.

I don't think Wando should be listed that low should they?

well that's the point of the topic. Instead of "ripping" all the lists why don't you make one?

Tyler, I didn't rip any of the lists. I just simply asked a couple of questions and gave my two cents on a couple of teams.

well then what's your list

Dutch Fork
Northwestern
Wando
Brookland Cayce
Irmo
Riverside
South Aiken
Dorman
Summerville
Greenville
Hilton Head
Spring Valley
North Myrtle Beach
Eastside
Pinewood Prep

ok I can go with that. I think Riverside is ove rated here but ok and Greenville will be very good this year w/ Finotti and the quality of their players.

I think James Island might be a little stronger than many think. From what I saw on CUSC Thunder they will be a senior dominated team and fairly talented. Likely to vie with Spring Valley for semi spot in lower state.

It's kind of funny that Finotti is now being praised as one of the top coaches when last year at this time most people didn't even know who he was even though NW had a team in the championship multiple years. I guess it takes a few years to prove yourself. Greenville was a good team last year and will be a good team this year with or without Finotti. They easily kept up with Eastside last year and they were a young team overall.

Nick is no Johnny-come-lately. He has been a very good coach since he started with the Sumter Soccer Club 6 or 7 years ago. I have seen some outstanding coaches over the last 6 years , but none was as good as Nick at training the basic skills and fundamentals of soccer. He will be a real blessing to CESA and Greenville High.

CornerFlag

Have you been buried under a corner flag for the last 3-4 years? You claim that no one had heard of Finotti up until this year. Try two straight appearances in the 4A Championship game, 3 straight UpperState appearances. Ranked #1 in the nation last year. He has been given credit for NW's rise over the last 3 years to the top in 4A. What had NW done before then? Before NW, he was an assistant at Lander U for 3 years. Spent 3 years under Shelley at Sumter who is also one of the better CESA coaches, in case you dont know who he is also. He has been a SC ODP coach for the last 6 years.

So the question should be, why are you even posting ridiculous statements?

Corner Flag, I was speaking of his ability to teach fundamental soccer skills to younger age players. That is my experience with him. Obviously, he is a very good tactician as anyone who saw the Irmo-NW championship games realize he figured out a way to give his team a chance to win with lesser talent.

Hey Lower take Finottis meat out your mouth.


just kidding.

You are right. Hard to argue w/ his results. I think he will have a few rings at G'ville.

Corner Flag has no clue what he is talking about.

Guys,

Of course he's good. That's my point. You just don't hear about him all that much on this board. Not too many people gave NW any chance in pre-season last year to be good because they lost a good bit of talent, yet they were one of the top teams in the state. Some of the hard core posters know he's good (even idiots like Shearer) but it doesn't seem to get advertised that much. Maybe it's due to all the high schoolers that come and go and only pay attention to their team.

I never got the impression that Finotti wasn't getting recognition.. You see his name all the time here.. can't recall him coaching any all-star teams or anything..but I don't pay that close attention.

If anything..I think he's getting a lot of recognition now.. since he left NW.. and is now coaching with CESA and Greenville HS.. I'd say he's set..

why is everyone leaving Daniel out of the top 15. it looks like a bunch of people are going to be surprised when they get beat by daniel. they only lost three seniors and have nine starting juniors returning.

they may be good, but there are at least 15 teams better than them. thats why.

Pinewood over the past few years has been less than dominating. 2 years ago they did beat ben lippen 7-1 in the final. but the 3 years before that they lost to ben lippen in the playoffs. This past year, they beat ben lippen 1-0 in an even game with ben lippen playing a man down more than half of the game. I didn't put Ben Lippen over Pinewood in my top 15, but with ben lippen returning 8 starters and the entire bench, I would say that Pinewood is not the clear favorite.

Benp,

I've only been following Pinewood for 2 years, but in those last two years, which teams from SCISA beat them?

No doubt, the next edition of the Ben Lippen/Pinewood game will be another good one. Sounds like the rosters are very similar. We can hope it's the final this year.

Ok here it is!!!


1.Northwestern
2.Dutch Fork
3.Irmo
4.Geenville
5.Brookland Cayce
6.James island
7.Spring Valley
8.Wando
9.Riverside
10.Ride View
11.Lexington
12.Dorman
13.Mauldin
14.Dreher
15.Daniel

I like the lexington team in the next few years, assuming that a bulk of the u16 lexington club team plays for them. But I'm not sure who they lost from last year.
Ben Lippen pinewood will be a great game, assuming they do meet. It looks like they will be the top two teams in scisa with heathwood and cardinal newman losing a bulk of their teams from last year.

Lexington did not lose much....However Gk will be a big problem as Will Faulkner shoes may prove too big. In total I believe they lost 6 seniors, all of which are replaced with the U16 players some of which are probably better and most of which made Varsity last year.

you can't rely on the bulk of the lexington club u16 guys to play for LHS because without more clubs, alot of people from the surrounding areas (Gilbert, Bates-burg, WK) all play in the lexington club, so they are dispersed between quite a few high schools.

I think that Lexington just losing Faulkner is a lot. He was a superb goalie and I cannot imagine Lexington having anyone close his ability. They will have to be much better in the field in order to keep the ball away from the goal.

JG
I agree with the Faulkner comment. Big shoes to fill.

I would venture to say that the amount of players on the lexington u16 team that play at wk, gilbert, batesburg leesville or any other mediocre school is somewhere between 1 and 0.

suprising that eastside is left off everyones top 15

my bad they would be 13-15....I think the loss of Simmons and Huff will be too much.

Eastside should always be good but they're not as good as Riverside. Go Warriors!

--Lock of the year--
Greenville=Finotti=Title
The guy can flat out coach.

Shearer-
Must agree,
Had a chance to watch eastside once last year at tourney time, Huff was a beast in the middle, and Simmons stretched the field. Eastside will struggle without their play and leadership.

You guyz forgot about Swansea's new varsity team, if any school is out in the middle of nowhere it is defanutely swansea and trust me they are "redneck" enough to make the top fifteen. Now to build them up. They got a late start last year so they did not have alot of practice and this year they should be better since they will start conditioning in December and they will actually have enough players to have some back-ups.

In AA swansea might just have what it takes to have a good season this year.

Does anyone know anything about Spring Valley this year? I think I recall them having a ton of juniors last year, but not many people have them that high besides LongHorns.

U18 NECSA Ambush

Carl Anderson Dreher
Michael Bradberry S.V.
Jeff Chillag S.V.
Patrick Clements S.V.
Paddy Flynn S.V.
Chase Houghton S.V.
Kyle Hughes Ridgeview
Davis Jenkins S.V.
Breatt Keatley Lexington
Drew Leatherman Dreher
John McClam Dreher
Ryan Orland Ridgeview
Michael Pietras S.V.
Kevin Simpson S.V.
Benny Smith Dreher
Thomas Thunell Dreher
Wes Troyer Hammond
Peter Vandiver S.V.

add in Sean Flynn, Parker Moore, Thomas Clements (and a few others who i'm not sure about) from the u16 Necsa Premier team. Plus Earmon from the u17 Bridge team that won state

and You've got 13 players playing club. 9 of them on the u18 boy's state champion challenge team. 1 on the u17 boy's state champion challenge team. And 3 that just played 9 games against some of the best teams in the eastern division of our region. I think SV will be very strong. Probably the best chance they have had at a state championship in quite a while, and for a while to come.

Benp

Valley could have a decent year this year, however, Tripp Miller will not be on the sidelines with these boys.

Infamous,

Did NECSA wear "seafoam green" in the finals?


Is this a hint that CMSA could be making a comeback w/ the new merger and all?

Ahh, CMSA! A throwback to my son's days. The best playing with the best. CSC/Irmo and NECSA together again with a sprinkling of the other Midlands soccer clubs. This is a merger that 2004striker should promote!

Never really understood why this broke up 10 years ago. Just seemed to be the egos of northwest and northeast Columbia that ruined this club.

I don't know if they wore those jerseys in the final. I was only there on Saturday.

They did..

gilbert, white knoll, and batesburg
dont have people on that team
most of gilbert and those random high school out there=rec

Eastside will be powerful now and in 3-4 years they will again contest for the 3a State Champ. with 6 Freshman Cesa Premier players 1 challenge and 1 more '91 premier and 2 more '92 premier. the future is looking BRIGHT!

Some of the teams will be good again this year but I think it will be about 2 years until the level of play is back to that of the Spring 04 and Spring 05 years. The playing levels of the juniors and seniors just isn't as strong this year nor will it be next year.

I don't think I agree with you at all. The most talked about players are seniors now. I'm talking last year, when you asked anyone who the top players were in the state. Almost everyone would have mention 4 juniors over any senior. Also, if you look at some of the top 10 teams in each division from last year, there are quite a few teams that are senior dominated this year. Dutch Fork, Spring Valley, Northwestern, Jamal Geathers, and I'm sure there are others in 4a. BC, Dreher, and surely some non midland 3a schools. BE, and in Scisa, Hammond Ben Lippen and Pinewood all have strong returning rosters. Look for a powerful year for those teams. Yes, maybe Irmo doesn't have the depth of last year, but with 4 key returning players on their team, even they will still be good. A change in face at the top may happen, but there isn't a loss in overall talent.

Actually, DF will be junior dominated. There will be about 5-6 seniors, I think, that will play a roll in their success. There are at least a dozen juniors on the squad and all of them will play at some point in the game, plus they have a couple of pretty good sophomores that will probably make some noise this year.

well, it still proves that a good team from last year is mostly back.

I dont understand why everyone is not pick Northwestern number one.....they grad. 3 seniors and only 2 of the seniors got playing time on last years team who was rank number 1 the entire year intil getting beat in the Upperstate Championship...

because they lost their coach..and now he is coaching for Gville(i think)

Cap-Northwestern losing there coach will change nothing...there new coach is just as good as Finotti and Northwestern can win with this coach as well.

well i think that because northwestern lost shouldnt that show that numbers often dont mean anything? When you looked at NW schedule they didnt play to many top rated teams at any rate. I just dont think because they were #1 alot last year and then got beat by a better team they should be rated the top team this year

I feel, with a number of seniors that played in the 2004 championship game gone, and the intro of a new forward, plus the change in the game style for the team because of the players available and having true Junior leadership on the team versus Senior for 2005 rates them very high for preseason #1 bragging rights in 2006.

The Lake Murray Tourney will tell alot for this team this year.

They could face 2-3 top teams in order to win this year.

North Norman is younger than years past which might help Irmo in the first game.

Either way, it will be very interesting for 2006 and the coaching with Finotti just helped gell these juniors for there last year with a very good coach for 2006...

seems similar to the irmo team last year who were a senior dominated team but just couldnt get the job done.i agree with lowvolt05 that the lake murray challenge will tell a lot for northwestern.also with having a far more difficult schedule this year due to the addition of the palmetto cup in their schedule they could ultimately end up with more losses although they will be far more prepared come playoff time unlike last year.

I love it.
Every year Wando is picked middle to lower of the pack. More years than none, they are in the thick of the playoffs when other teams picked ahead of them are eliminated.

According to the massey rankings. Wando over the past years has been ranked 5, 11, 2, 8, and 14, making thier average ranking 8.
People have thus far ranked them at 9, 7, 5, 12, 3, 8, and 7. an average ranking of 7.2. I think people's preseason rankings of Wando have been reasonable.

Wright-Phillips-Why do you say Northwestern will have more loses? They are capable of beating any team in the state...just because their schedule may be tougher does not mean they will lose more games than last year(only two loses).

i say they "could" end up with more losses.i didnt say they would. if you compare last years schedule to this years you would think that they would have more this year instead of last.they are capable of beating anyone in the state.does anyone have any in depth information on their players?i know arroyo is up top but who all is in their midfield? who are there center mids and outside mids or other mids?

Forwards:Ryan Kropp,Andrew Phillips, Arroyo,and Mitchell Gullick(sub)

Midfield:Vance Benson,Holden Mchonahey,Reid Hovis,Rob Tice

Defense:James Clinton, DJ Piers, Ben Brannan, Alexander Galloway

Goalkeeper:Taylor Crawford

These players were all starters at one point for Northwestern last year and are returning this year. They will also have some talent coming up from the JV team and possibly some freshmen on the squad.

only players ive heard of are arroyo and benson.. how are the other midfielders? ive seen the stats of all three forwards and it is quite impressive what they did last year

I think ya'll are really underestimateing PG. Their whole team can not wait for the Pinewood Prep game due to Pinewood's lucky last minute goal in over time last year. They have many returning players and many rising players that all show lots of talent. They have a stellar defense and a reasonable offense, so don't just push them aside and forget about them.

trust me pinewood cant wait for that game either

Other than Arroyo and Benson, what club teams do the NW players play for? Are there any good U17 or U18 teams in the Rock Hill area?

who does arroyo play for?

He has been guest playing for different teams from SC and GA because there is no specific u-19 team in the area.