Pictured – Gray Collegiate defenseman Junior Gonzalez goes up for the head shot.
By Thomas Grant Jr.
The first year in Class 4A for Gray Collegiate finds it atop both the region and state boys soccer rankings.
As the War Eagles finish play at their NIKE Palmetto Cup at Saluda Shoals Park in Irmo, head coach Kevin Heise is concerned about the 3 “Hs”.
“We’ve just got to stay hungry and I think we’re doing a good job at that,” he said. “We’ve got to stay humble, have some humility about who we are and I think they’re doing a good job with that. The one we can’t control is the health and if we’re hungry and healthy and humble, I think we’ve got a good chance come May. But that health thing is the one that’s sticking in my craw a little bit because there isn’t much I can do about it.
“I can coach. I can put people in Xs and Os and things like that. But having them available. That’s the trick right now. We’ve got to get healthy.”
Entering Tuesday’s match with Legion Collegiate, Gray Collegiate had as many as five players inactive due to injury. The list got longer Tuesday junior midfielder and leading scorer Andres Campo exited at the 20-minute mark of the first half favoring his hamstring.
The War Eagles lost 2-1 to Legion Collegiate to fall into third place. Blythewood’s 3-0 win over Ben Lippen put it in the lead ahead of the two charter schools.
Gray Collegiate faced Ben Lippen Wednesday to close out the Cup. Meanwhile, the Lady Eagles rebounded from their first loss of the season Monday against Nation Ford by a 3-2 score with a 1-0 win over Waccamaw.
Caroline Cantrell scored on a breakaway goal for the lone points of the contest. Gray Collegiate (16-1, 11-0) closed out the tournament against Hammond School Wednesday.
SCORBORD HIGH SCHOOL SOCCER RANKINGS
BOYS
Class 4A
1.Gray Collegiate, 2. Bishop England, 3. May River, 4. A.C. Flora, 5. Daniel, 6. Wren, 7. Hilton Head Island, 8. Bluffton, 9. Greer, 10. Westside
Class 3A
1.Oceanside Collegiate Academy, 2. Powdersville, 3. St. Joseph’s Catholic School, 4. Waccamaw, 5. Hanahan, 6. Christ Church, 7. Swansea, 8. Woodruff, 9. Newberry, 10. Pendleton
Class 2A
1.Academic Magnet, 2. Phillip Simmons, 3. Andrew Jackson, 4. Mid-Carolina, 5. Atlantic Collegiate Academy, 6. Columbia, 7. American Leadership Academy, 8. Lake City, 9. Greenville Tech, 10. Strom Thurmond
GIRLS
Class 4A
1.A.C. Flora, 2. Bishop England, 3. Gray Collegiate, 4. Hilton Head Island, 5. Wren, 6. Gilbert, 7. Daniel, 8. Dreher, 9. Hartsville, 10. South Aiken
Class 3A
1.Christ Church, 2. Oceanside Collegiate Academy, 3. St. Joseph’s Catholic, 4. Powdersville, 5. Waccamaw, 6. Fox Creek, 7. Greer Middle College, 8. Chapman, 9. Walhalla, 10. Swansea
Class 2A
1.Academic Magnet, 2. Phillip Simmons, 3. Bridges Prep, 4. Andrew Jackson, 5. Dixie, 6. Buford, 7. Mid-Carolina, 8. Atlantic Collegiate Academy, 9. Landrum, 10. Brashier Middle College
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