‘Battle-hardened’: Catawba Ridge soccer is winning despite youth, 5A competition

While that new car smell is still part of Catawba Ridge, that doesn’t mean the boys’ soccer team doesn’t have big goals for its inaugural season.

Head coach Phillip McCarter said his team is showing signs of how good it could be in its first season, despite not really getting into the heart of its schedule yet.

Catawba Ridge is now 2-2 on the season, having beaten 5A schools Northwestern and Boiling Springs, while losing to 5A schools in Dorman and TL Hanna.

Their win over Northwestern was the team’s first-ever game and was a 1-0 victory, with junior Nate Randall scoring the lone goal for the Copperheads — the first goal in the history of the school.

McCarter wasn’t sure how things would go with such a tough non-region schedule.

“We are a little bit ahead of schedule because we are competing on a 5A schedule,” McCarter said.

The Copperheads also beat Boiling Springs, 2-1, in March, rallying after going down early, 1-0. Randall and sophomore Derek Ringnalda scored the two goals for Catawba Ridge.

The Copperheads’ non-region schedule is packed with games against a majority of 5A and 4A teams like Fort Mill and Nation Ford, along with South Pointe and Lancaster. They also face Rock Hill and will play Northwestern again.

Catawba Ridge will play Rock Hill as their last non-region game before starting Region 4-3A play March 10, and then have other non-region games sprinkled within that schedule.

McCarter said the Rock Hill match will be a test for Catawba Ridge before they enter region play.

“That will be our toughest match before region play,” he said. “All of this will make us battle-hardened.”

However, what will really count for Catawba Ridge will be how it does in their own region. McCarter said he feels that his team can compete for a playoff spot — and for a region title. McCarter said the biggest challenge for a region title will come from both Camden and Indian Land.

“Our goal is to win the region and make a deep run in the playoffs,” he said. “It is going to come down to who executes.”

Because Catawba Ridge doesn’t have seniors, the inaugural team is made up of the majority of juniors, three sophomores and two freshmen.

“We are young and still learning a lot,” McCarter said. “We have got a junior or a good sophomore at every position. We aren’t deep. We only have 18 players, three of them are keepers. That could affect things if we don’t stay healthy, but we do have a pretty balanced roster.”

Mac Banks: mbanks@comporium.net, @MacBanksFM