With everything on the line, these Fort Mill teammates proved their all-star status

After suffering agonizing losses in the district finals each of the previous two seasons, the Fort Mill Parks and Recreation 10-under soccer team got together for one more title run.

The team lost in 2014 and again in 2015 in the regional finals, falling once in overtime and a second time in a penalty kick shootout to teams out of Lancaster.

When they assembled this all-star team after the fall season concluded in October, coach Myles Rahalewicz said he had a feeling this team could go out with a bang.

“We were a well-balanced team with equally strong defense, midfield and forward players,” he said.

Fort Mill put that on display early in the district championships, beating their nemesis from Lancaster with a 2-0 win off goals by Alexander Rahalewicz and Mason Poveromo.

In the second round, the team beat Kershaw County-Camden, 2-0, on goals by Rion Seekings and Isabel Perez and closed out the district championship with a convincing 4-0 win over Lancaster County North off a pair of strikes by Rahalewicz and goals by Poveromo and Owen Tompkins.

After winning districts for the first time in program history, the team took Thanksgiving break off but reconvened for the state tournament, which was held Dec. 10 and 11 in a double elimination format.

“We felt really good about everything,” coach Rahalewicz said.

“We had come through some good competition in districts and beat Lancaster, who is historically strong and had knocked us out each of the last two years. We had to beat two Lancaster teams this year, so after that we thought we had a pretty good chance.”

The defense, led by defenders Tyler Otwell, Jon McCutchan, Lucas Ostrander and goalkeeper Tyler Kelly, was again tremendous in the opening round game at the state tournament, blanking Beaufort, 1-0 on a goal by Otwell.

Later that day, the combination of great defense and opportunistic scoring got Fort Mill past Walhalla, 2-0, on goals by Perez and Poveromo, setting up the finals on Dec. 11 in a rematch against Walhalla.

In that match for the first time all season, Fort Mill found itself down, 1-0, after allowing a first half goal. If they would go on to lose, they’d have to play Walhalla again, but losing wouldn’t be in the cards.

“We went almost five and-a-half games without giving up a goal, so it was interesting to see how they responded being down for a change,” Myles Rahalewicz said.

Fort Mill responded as champions do, with Seekings tallying the equalizer and Christopher Kweder netting the eventual winner.

Kids and adults alike exulted after the dramatic, 2-1 come-from-behind win.

“The celebration was tremendous,” Myles Rahalewicz said.

“They were proud to come back and score, so when we scored again it was surreal to see all of that hard work show through. It shows that we’re able to coach kids up and prepare them for high-level competition. That’s the goal with any program to get kids better and to take them to the next level.”

The championship – the first in any sport for Fort Mill Parks and Recreation – was not only a big deal to the players and coaches, but for the organization as a whole.

“This is the first state championship we’ve won in recreation in any sport, so we’re definitely proud of the kids,” said Fort Mill Parks and Recreation Athletic Superintendent Jason Ratteree.

“All of them worked hard all fall season to get to this spot. We’re proud of them.”

Ratteree said a high-profile championship like this is important to the fast-growing town in more ways than one.

“I think it’s great to get exposure about the parks and recreation out to the area. With so many people moving to the area, it encourages kids who may not have wanted to play soccer or never even thought about it to jump in and give it a shot,” he said.

“It also shows the quality of coaches we have in our department and the quality of product we put out. We’re really proud of this team and its coaches and happy to have won a championship. It’s a really big deal.”

This story was originally published December 20, 2016 at 5:52 PM with the headline "With everything on the line, these Fort Mill teammates proved their all-star status."