Midlands boys soccer preview: Teams to watch in 2016
A look at some of the soccer teams in the Midlands to watch out for this season:
A.C. Flora
COACH: Matt Barry (Seventh year)
LAST YEAR’S RECORD: 19-3-1
KEY LOSSES: 8 seniors
KEY RETURNEES: The Falcons have eight seniors and eight juniors, including college signees Jack Pondy and Shawn Geiger. Falcons are coming off their first state title in school history.
Blythewood
COACH: Peter Wittig (21 seasons, 246-152-6)
LAST YEAR’S RECORD: 19-6
KEY LOSSES: Grayson Barber, Reid Hunter, Thomas Whiddon
STARTERS RETURNING: 7
KEY RETURNEES: Nick Orr (All-state, 4 goals, 2 assists); Justin Germano (4 goals, 9 assists); Adam Haltiwanger (All-region 2 assists); Liam Murphy (28 career shutouts); Cody Turner (All-region, 9 goals, 18 assists).
Brookland-Cayce
COACH: Kevin Heise (26th year, 437-165-24)
LAST YEAR’S RECORD: 22-6
KEY LOSSES: David Koprowski (All-State, Clash of the Carolinas selection); Caleb Kussro, Alex Peachey, Dontrell Taylor, Edwin Taylor
STARTERS RETURNING: 6
KEY RETURNEES: Dominik Byars, Joel Salcedo, Ivan Vasquez, Brad Daniels, Heh Htoo, Ilyass Balota and Luis Lopez.
NEWCOMERS TO WATCH: Noah Scott, Horace Harling, Donovan Branch, Cristian Gonzalez
Cardinal Newman
COACH: Will Eudy (10 seasons)
LAST YEAR’S RECORD: 26-3
KEY LOSSES: Christian Kirol, Jack Sicker, Cam Parker, Cam Bohannon
STARTERS RETURNING: 5
KEY RETURNEES: Ben Mizeur, Wyatt Millard, Will Chontos
NEWCOMERS TO WATCH: Andrew Tilton
Dreher
COACH: Clark McCarthy (57-53-1 career record)
LAST YEAR’S RECORD: 13-10
KEY LOSSES: Jesse Switzer
STARTERS RETURNING: 7
KEY RETURNEES: GK Cody Bach; MF Ian Devlin; MF Sean O’Neill; MF Darian McKnight; MF Kelsey Long; D Evan Phillips
NEWCOMERS TO WATCH: MF Cole Gaston
Dutch Fork
COACH: Jovan Brdarski (first year)
LAST YEAR’S RECORD: 15-9-1
STARTERS RETURNING: 4
KEY RETURNEES: John Heming (11 goals 10 assists), Grant Wagner (1 goal, 6 assists)
Hammond
COACH: Adrian Pinasco (10th year)
LAST YEAR’S RECORD: 14-6-2
KEY LOSSES: 7 seniors and Jon Cody Mactutus
STARTERS RETURNING: 4
KEY RETURNEES: Lucas Prickett, Isaac Mikell, Reid Turner, Rex Oliver.
NEWCOMERS TO WATCH: Wade Oliver, Meade Fowler
Heathwood Hall
COACH: Andrew Richardson (Fifth year, 34-34-2 career record)
LAST YEAR’S RECORD: 12-7
KEY LOSSES: Will Komar
STARTERS RETURNING: 10
KEY RETURNEES: Brandon Hill (Two-time all-state,: 11 goals, 2 assists in 12 games), John Davis (All-state: 14 G, 4 A), Aidan Powers (All-state: 7 G, 9 A)
NEWCOMERS TO WATCH: Paul Jones
Irmo
COACH: Steve Duerr (1st full year, was interim head last year, 18-3-1)
LAST YEAR’S RECORD: 20-3-3
KEY LOSSES: 17 seniors, Sam Padulla, Colin Harris
STARTERS RETURNING: 2
KEY RETURNEES: JT Tarkegne, Osman Ghandour and Jonathan Braxton
NEWCOMERS TO WATCH: Brandon Love, Eric Garcia-Nieto
River Bluff
COACH: Phil Savitz (35th year, 676-90-6)
LAST YEAR’S RECORD: 20-3 Lower State 4-A Runner-up
KEY LOSSES: Gian Ortega, Jon Aldinger, Mark Hoog
STARTERS RETURNING: 8
KEY RETURNEES: Marcelo Malpartida, Ben Freiburger, Caldwell Loftis, Sean O'Hara, Hampton Scott, Russell Hammond, Connor Deany, Justin Salters
This story was originally published February 28, 2016 at 9:12 PM with the headline "Midlands boys soccer preview: Teams to watch in 2016."