2004

EC soccer season begins Saturday Soccer competition geb

burning out. The players' attitudes ha\'e also been very good, and that's a good sign.' he said. Th<;~mpson said fans of the So'ccer Warriors will not be disappointed in 2004: "I believe the fans will see another classic Warrior soc– cer team on the field. By that I mean that these players will play extremely hard for all 90 minutes of every match no matter the score, whether they are up by a lot or a little, or dO\\Til by a lot or little. They \Vill play like Warriors!" Although pre-&eason polls in soccer are not pro– \'ided by the MACJC, Thom'pson said the team to beat in the South will proba– bly 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 w ill be tough again," Thompson predicted. Thompson said Gulf Coast, a team East Central usually plays well again t and defeated in the 2003 sea– son finale, "should field their yearl} strong squad." He added that Meridian and Jones will abo put quali– h· teams on the field. Thompson ...aid Copiah– Lincoln, \\ hich ha~ a new coach and man) new play– ers, •will be looking to impro\ e this) ear." Thomp.:.on said Hinds ~hould repeat as ~orth Divbion champions, and exnects the remaining North teams to finish in this order: (2) Holmes; (3) Northwest; (4) Delta; (5) Itawamba; and (6} East ~tississippi.

under way Saturday at Ea~t Central Community College as the Soccer Warriors take on rival East Mississippi Community College at 11 a.m. on the Decatur campus. Although he returns just four players from last year's squad which finished 7-11 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 competiti\'e 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. \\'e want to make a run at a playoff spot, but as usual the South Division will be a tough challenge for all the teams -:-hompson 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 sweep– er (Ryan Stewart), then our center midfielder (David Prewitt), and finishing up with our forwards Qose Ca::.tillo and Diego Perez of Fore-.t) - these will be key positions for us while some of the\ ounger players adjust to the co ege game," Thomp-so tated the \ounger Ihomp...on •are a•

East Central Soccer Schedule Aug. 28 East MISStSStppt, 11 a.m. Aug. 31 at Mtss. Delta 4 p m Sept. 3 at ltawamba, 1 p m. Sept 8 Holmes, 2 p rn. Sept. 11 Copiah·Lincoln, 11 a.m. Sept 14 Pearl River, 4 p.m. Sept. 18 at Mendtan, 7 p.m. Sept. 22 at Gulf Coast, 3 p.m. Sept. 25 Jones 11 a.m. Sept. 28 at East MISSissippi, 3 p.m. Oct. 2 ltawamba, 11 a.m. Oct 6 at Coptah·Ltncoln, 3 p.m. Oct. 8 at Peart River, 3 p.m. Oct. 12 Meridian. 3 p.m. Oct. 16 Gulf Coast, 11 a.m. Oct. 20 at Jones. 2 p.m. Oct. 23 MACJC Semifinals Oct. 24 MACJC Finals 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 prod– ucts of Newton County High School, Kyle Vowell and Austin I !erring, both of Neshoba Central, and Zach Joiner of Carthage; defend– er I forward jason Lopez of Forest; defender I mid fielder Daniel Warren of Clarkdale; defenders Trey Whitehead of Southeast Lauderdale, Jared Weir of Clarkdale and Zach Kilpatrick of Neshoba Central; and forward Diego Perez of Columbia, South America. The \\'arrior head mentor sa1d preseason \'\'Orkouts, which began August 10, ha\·e gone well ~o far, e-.pecially since weather conditions ha\ e been ideal. "The cool \\~ather \\ e expencnet."'

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