2004

I I I I I ,ason opener Satu

I EC·-soccer team hosts E Svecial to The Record

Clarkdah• dntuudt·t ·s 'l't·ey Wh1 'head of Southeast Lutultmltt~t·, Jared Weir of' <.:1-:td-{t-lale '_"_ '_cJ ~n 'I_' Kilpatrick of' Noshohn C('llll' I; and forward l>i<~go l't~t·oz ul Columbia. South Auu~J·i<;a . The Warrior: head menlt'' preseason wol'kouts, whkh bt __ ''!i" Aug. 10, have gone "well" so I u: especially since wcathc:r con li tions have been ideal. "The cool weather we eXtl!P't enced earlier made it a lot r:af!l(~r for the players to work lcutll!l' periods wit~out bw·ning out , ' I he: players' attitudes have aJso 11L 11 very good, and that's a good si" '' he said. Thompson said fans of the cer Warriors will not be dI pointed in 2004. "I believe the fans w11l another classic Warrior soc·~cr team on the field. By that I 11 uJ._m that these players wilJ nluv extremely hard for all 90 m i ~~~-·]eo.; of every match no matte•· ht• score, whether they are up h a lot or a little, or down by a lo or little. They will play like ' Jll' riors!" Although pre-season poll9 j lll soccer are not provided hy Jhe MACJC, Thompson said thC' I am to beat in llw South will prohahly be Pearl River, the defending '-till I' and Region 2:~ champions. "Pearl River will push hant to repeat"as champions. It may lk_. a challt>ngl! fb i' tlwm, howofet~ since thC'y lost n lot of key pla~t'S

ECCC soecer schedule A~.28 __._g¥Q.C A~ ~Miss. Delta Sept. L.._@ l~wamba Sept. 8 HOL~ES ~t__!Lg0-LIN* Sept. 14 PEARLRIVER* 1 p.m. ~.m. 11 a.m: 11 a.m. __4p.m.

Soccer competition gets under· way Saturday at East Central Community College, as the Soccer Warriors take on rival East Mis– sissippi Community College at 11 a.m. on the Decatur campus. Although he returns just four players from last year's squad, whichfmished 7-11 overall and 3-7 in the South Division, sixth-year head coach Kenneth Thompson is optimistic his team will fare well in2004. "I am looking forward to com– petitive matches early on in the season that we can do well in so that we can build our confidence for the more challenging division matches later on. We want to make a run at a playoff spot, but as usual the South Division will be a tough challenge for all the teams," Thompson said. Returnees include team captain and sweeper Ryan Stewart and goalkeeper Ragan Denham, both of Northeast Lauderdale; forward Jose castillo of Raleigh; and mid– fielder Luis Araya of Forest. Another sophomore on the squad is center fielder David Prewitt of Clarkdale, who transferred from Meridian Community College. Thompson said the strength of this year's squad will be the inside positions. "Starting with the sweeper (Ryan Stewart), then our center midfielder (David Prewitt), and fmishing up with our forwards

4 P·"l: ?p.m. 3p.m~ 11 a.m. 3p.m. 11 a.m.

~t_.!_8 _@Meridian•, Sepl22 @_GulfCoast• ~~2~_J9NE$*_ §apt. 28_ .. @EMC9 Oct. 2 ITAWAMBA oot. ·s~co-un• OCt. 8 @Peart River• bct.~MEAIDIAN" Oci 16 ~GULF COAST* bet. 20 · -@Jones•

3_P·!T'· 3p.m. 3p.m._

11 a.m. 2p.m.

EAST CENTRAL C Members of the East Central Community College socce1 2004 season and their respective high schools tncludo (seat m1dfielder Taylor Nichols (2) of Newton County, midfielder Zc Carthage, defender/midfielder Dantel Warren (5) of Clarkdah Micah Lanier (6) of Newton County, and forward/kickor Joso, Raleigh; (kneeling, from left) midfielder David Pr0w1tt (B) ol ~ defenderTrey Whitehead (9) of Southeast Laudcrdt~l£l, midli (10) of Forest, midfielder/defender Ryan Stewart (12) ol Norl erdale, and defender Jared Weir (13) of Clarkdale; and (l>ncl manager Ben Snyder of Northeast Lauderdale, midtieldor K~ of Neshoba Central, forward Diego Perez (15) of Colurnhiu, kicker/defender Ragan Denham of Northeast Lauderdnlo, m1 Herrington (17) of Neshoba Central, defender Zach Kilpntricl ba Central, and head coach Kenneth Thompson.

(Jose Castillo and Diego Perez of Forest) - these will be key posi– tions for us while some of the younger players adjust to the col– lege game," Thompson stated. Speaking of the younger team members, Thompson said the freshmen "are a good group to work with." He added, "We are having to spend some time on building techniques, but they really work hard at trying to per– form well." Freshmen players include mid– fielders Taylor Nichols and Micah Lanier, both products of Newton County High School, Kyle Vowell and Austin Herring, both of Neshoba Central, and Zach Joiner of Carthage; defender/forward Jason Lopez of Forest; defend– er/ midfielder Daniel Warren of

to graduation and have a new coach. But I am sure they will be tough again," he predicted. Thompson said Gulf Coast, a team East Central usually plays well against and defeated in the 2003 season fmale, "should field

their yearly stron added that Meridi will also put "qual the field. Thompso which has a new co new players, "will improve this year."