2004

WEEK OF (]I A.,,

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ECCC Soccer Warriors host East Mississippi in season opener Soccer competition gets underway Saturday,

Forest; defender/midfielder Daniel Warren ofClarkdale; defenders Trey Whitehead of Southeast Lauderdale, Jared Weir ofClarkdale and Zach Kilpatrick of Nes,hoba Central; and forward Diego Perez of Columbia, South America. The Warrior head mentor said preseason work– outs, which began August I 0, have gone "well" so far, especially since weather conditions have been ideal. "The cool weather we experienced earlier made 1t a lot easier for the players to work longer peri– ods without burning out. The players' attitudes have also been very good, and that's a good sign," he said. Thompson said fans of the Soccer Warriors will not be disappointed in 2004: "I believe the fans will see another classic Warrior soccer teamon the field. By that l mean that these players will play extremely hard for all 90 minutes of every match no matter the ~core, whether they areup by a lot or a little, or down by a lot or little. They will play like Warriors! " Although pre-season polls in soccer are not provided by the MACJC, Thompson said the team to beat in the South will probably be Pearl River, the defending State and Region 23 champions. "Pearl River will push hard to repeat as champions. It may be a challenge for them, however, since they lost a lot of key players 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 finale, "should field their yearly strong squad.'' He added that Meridian and Jones will also put "quality teams" on the field. Thompson said Co-Lin, which has a newcoach and many new players, "will be looking to improve this year." Thompson said Hinds should repeat as di'-'ISIOn champiOns. ana expects the remaining North teams to finish in th1s order: (2) Holmes; (3) Northwest; (4) Delta; (5) Itawamba; and (6) East Mississippi.

August 28 at East Central Community College, as the Soccer Warriors take on rival East Mississippi Community College at II a.m. on the Decatur campus. Although he returns just four players from last year's squad, which finished 7-ll overall and 3-7 in the South Division, sixth-year head coach Kenneth Thompson is optimistic his team will fare well in 2004. " I am looking forward to competitive matches early on in the season that we can do well in so that we can build our confidence for the more chaJienging divi– sion matches later on. We want to make a run at a play– off 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 midfielder Luis Araya of Forest. Another sopho– more 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 finish– ing up with our forwards (Jose Castillo and Diego Perez ofForest) - these wiU be key positions for us while some of the younger players adjust to the college 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 perfom1 well." Freshmen players include midfielders Taylor ichols and Micah Lamer, 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 SCOTT COUNTY TIMES ----------– UNION APPEAL--------- WINSTON COUNTY JOURNAL ____ SPIRIT OF MORTON ..:::.V_______ IMPACT _ ____________________ LAKE MESSENGER ____________ ~-

CARTHAGlNIAN - - ----- NESHOBADEMOCRAT ________ NEWTON RECORD - -------– MERIDIAN STAR--- ---– CLARION-LEDGER--- -------