Longtime Dreher soccer coach's career ends with loss in Class 4A lower state championship
David Kleinfelder didn’t get the ending he hoped for his Dreher soccer team.
Hilton Head Island scored three goals in the final 29 minutes to defeat the Blue Devils 5-2 on Monday in the Class 4A Lower State championship. The Seahawks will play Eastside in the state championship Friday at Irmo High School.
The loss brings an end to a storied career for Kleinfelder, who is calling it quits after a 40-year coaching career.
“It was a nice year to go out and we did real well, I was very proud of their efforts,” Kleinfelder said. “I never really made a big deal about retiring. I wanted to make it about them (the team).
“I’ve been very fortunate to have a great bunch working with both the guys and the girls. I get to see some still playing. It makes me feel good they enjoyed it enough to keep playing, and it’s something that is part of their lives.”
Kleinfelder finished with 507 career victories combined in both boys and girls soccer. He coached boys’ soccer at Lexington and Dreher before taking over the Dreher girls’ program in 2003.
Kleinfelder, who also had more than 300 wins as a tennis coach, won his only state title in 2015 when Dreher defeated Hilton Head, 7-3. Several of the girls on this year’s team were freshman on the title winning squad.
“I couldn’t be more proud of their efforts,” Kleinfelder said of his senior class. “Some senior classes get there and say we have done well and aren’t the greatest leaders. But not this group, they stepped up and wanted to have a great year. We got one of the toughest regions in the state and we were able to win the region. This senior class kept pushing and pushing and did a great job.
Regan Dennis and Naomi Mathusen had goals for the Blue Devils. Dennis’ goal tied it at 2 in the 45th minute.
But Carson Schoppe scored in the 51st minute when the ball slipped through the Dreher goalkeeper’s hands to put the Seahawks up 3-2. Hannah Stanhope scored her second goal of the match to put HHI up 4-2 in the 65th minute.
It is the third trip to the championship match in the past four seasons for Hilton Head.
“We are young team and come out nervous and tentative sometimes but once we get the train on the rail we are OK,” Hilton Head coach Ernie Suozzi said. “These girls are a special group because they are so young but they worked hard all year. They probably are one of the closest teams I have had and translated on to the field.”
This story was originally published May 7, 2018 at 10:09 PM with the headline "Longtime Dreher soccer coach's career ends with loss in Class 4A lower state championship."