Tabb’s Reilly Maw is far and beyond the best player, Grafton returns the most experience, Lafayette’s defense could be impenetrable and Jamestown is, well, Jamestown.
Throw in a young, but talented York team that handed the eventual state-champion Eagles their only loss of the season last spring, and you have what appears to be a wide open Bay Rivers District boys soccer race.
“There are no gimme games [in the Bay Rivers District] this season,” Lafayette coach Brian Sorrell said.
Added Grafton coach Paul Sidhu, “I don’t think there’s any team out there that can win every game. The winner could be the team that only loses one game.”
Jamestown, winners of four of the last five regular-season Bay Rivers titles, seems each year to reload rather than rebuild, which is why most district coaches mention the Eagles first when speaking of potential championship contenders.
Jamestown coach Bobby O’Brien will be the first to tell you, though, that his Eagles have much to prove after losing eight starters from last year’s group that captured the school’s second state championship in five seasons.
A handful of those eight lost starters played on the attacking side of the field, including leading scorers Patrick Kelly, who set a school record with 36 goals, Hunter Hartnett and Jon Cullom, a junior who committed to play for the U.S. Soccer Development Academy in Richmond this spring.
So O’Brien says his team will have to be more balanced this spring, and will rely on the experience returning starters Matt Cullom, Mike Connell and Wilson Coughenour to lead a slightly more defensive-minded group.
Sophomore Jeff Wolons, who was a frequent contributor on the attack last season before suffering a broken wrist at the start of the postseason, is the team’s best goal scorer and a menace to mark in the open field. Expect Duncan McDevitt, a versatile freshman who O’Brien says sees the field as well as anyone on his team, to play a number of different roles for the Eagles this season.
“We feel pretty good about where we are,” O’Brien said. “We’re going to be very young and inexperienced with a lot of freshman and other guys who were on the team but didn’t play much, but I like our balance.”
O’Brien echoed essentially the same outlook on the district as every other coach.
“There could be five teams in it down the stretch,” O’Brien said. “Lafayette might not give up a goal all year, Tabb may not be the best team but they have the best player, Grafton has four or five kids that can put the ball in the net and York is young, but well-coached.”
While the question of who is the best team in the Bay Rivers remains up in the air, there is little dispute as to who is the best player.
Tabb’s Reilly Maw, a William and Mary-bound senior who netted 36 goals last season, is a one-man scoring machine and could easily score 40-plus should the Tigers make a deep postseason run. The addition of newcomer Ali Akubaisee, a talented transfer from Iraq, will make Tabb even more dangerous if he can take some of the scoring pressure off Maw.
Grafton is another team that should have little trouble putting the ball in the net thanks to the return of senior Brian Anderson, one of the best offensive catalysts in the district, as well as midfielder Dom DiGangi and forward Aaron Kaye.
The Clippers could be tough to score on, too, with defensive starters Michael Trepte, Sean Breen, SoYoung Park and goalkeeper Michael Bly.
With seven total returning starters, Grafton perhaps combines talent with experience better than anyone in the district. Staying healthy could be key after last year’s injury bug, which sidelined a handful of starters, including Anderson, cost the Clippers a shot at a top two finish in the district.
Sidhu says he already has one player out with mono and another with a pulled groin, and Anderson could miss the first week of the season with an ankle injury.
“I think if we continue to progress we have a great chance of being right there at the end,” Sidhu said. “We just have to stay healthy.”
Lafayette’s run to a district championship will come down to how the Rams overcome the loss of senior forward and relentless scorer Alfonso Speed, who will play for the Development Academy this season.
The key will be how much offensive production the Rams can get out of the experienced senior trio of Calvin Mitchell, David Lees and Kamran Rahman, because defensively, the Rams have few weaknesses.
Defender Emery Trott and goalkeeper Adam Emerson are two of the best at their respective positions in the district while juniors Andrew and Anthony Vaccaro solidify a back line that coaches fear will be a nightmare to penetrate against.
“I don’t see us giving up a ton of goals, so if we can figure out a way to put the ball in the net – and we have the guys to do it – then we’re going to be tough to beat,” Sorrell said.
York’s challenges will be similar to Lafayette in that the Falcons are strong defensively, but lose four of their top goal scorers from last year in Josh Calderon, Tajee Harley, Logan Bauder and Alex Meade.
Forward Kahlil Duncan, York’s best player, will need to become an offensive force, although coach Ryan Hagerty is excited about five promising freshmen who he says are all ready to contribute immediately.
Goalkeeper Ben Kinney, defender Phillip Cragg and midfielder Chad Latulipe round out the small but talented pool of returning starters who helped guide the Falcons to a district-tournament championship last spring. Should York’s young players continue to blossom, another late-season run by the Falcons would come as no surprise.
