Staying on top! Cardinal Newman adds to tradition with sixth-straight boys soccer title
Cardinal Newman boys soccer’s dynasty rolled on in dominating fashion Saturday.
Tanner Battafarano scored three goals as the Cardinals survived an early scare to defeat Porter-Gaud, 6-2, and win the SCISA 4A championship at St. Sebastian Stadium.
It was the Cardinals’ sixth-straight state championship and program’s 13th overall, with 11 coming under coach Will Eudy.
“I think we are in a place to keep building and keep going,” Eudy said. “This team was way different than last year’s team and next year’s team will be different. We have great support, great parents, great kids. But you don’t have anything like this unless the players buy into what we do.”
Eudy didn’t get the customary Gatorade bath after Saturday’s game. That honor went instead to assistant coach Grayson Barber, a former Cardinal Newman standout who went on to play at Clemson and then in professional soccer.
Barber came back to coach this season before heading back to Clemson and finishing up his degree. Having Barber back was “special” and was a testament to the culture they’ve built around the program, Eudy said.
Eudy also praised this year’s group and the ups and downs they went through this season.
“It has been a good group of kids,” Eudy said. “The results (during the season) weren’t our normal results, but they never stopped believing in what the program does. Today was an example of what our program is. They couldn’t play the way they wanted to but they absolutely left no doubt.”
Cardinal Newman didn’t waste time getting on the board as Battafarano scored in the game’s first minute.
Porter-Gaud’s Matteo Tozzi tied things in the 19th minute on a penalty kick. But Battafarano and the Cards answered as the junior drilled in a rebound in the 26th minute to make it 2-1.
Battafarano completed his hat trick in the 60th minute to give the Cards a 5-1 lead. It was the third-straight year a Cardinal Newman player had a hat trick in the championship game, joining Duncan Wilson (2023) and Grayson White (2024).
“It hurt for a second,” Battafarano said of Porter-Gaud’s first goal. “But in the end, we all tried together and got the job done. … We worked hard and fought hard and I think it was our best game of the season.”
Dakota Venugopal, Brayden Roth and Chase Nelson also added goals for the Cardinals, who had a three-game losing streak in the middle of the season against powerhouse public school programs James Island, Oceanside Collegiate and Legion Collegiate.
Playing a tough non-conference schedule every year gets the Cardinals (13-8) ready for the march to the postseason, which has ended in a state championship victory the last six years.
“We knew we had a little bit of a work in progress but we played the same schedule, we played the tough games and learned from it,” Eudy said. “It showed today in this match. When they scored in this game to tie it, we have been hesitant in other big games. But today, it was not even close. We went straight after them. I was really proud of the boys.”
SCISA Soccer Championships
Saturday
At Hammond School
Class A/2A Girls: Beaufort Academy 3, Cambridge Academy 1 (OT)
Class A Boys: Beaufort Academy 2, Marlboro Academy 0
Class 3A Girls: Hilton Head Prep 5, Christian Academy 0
Class 2A Boys: Christian Academy 3, Hilton Head Prep 2 (OT)
At Cardinal Newman
Class 3A Boys: First Baptist 3, Pinewood Prep 2
Class 4A Girls: Porter-Gaud 6, Hammond 1
Class 4A Boys: Cardinal Newman 6, Porter-Gaud 2
This story was originally published May 10, 2025 at 8:26 PM.
