2006

EC soccer Waniors hope to improve in 2006 Special to Newton Record After a disappointing 2005 campaign, East Cen– tral Community College's men's soccer team is focused on having a suc– cessful 2006 season, says eighth-year head coach Kenneth Thompson. open shot inside the six– yard box. It was defmitely an exciting game," Thomp– son said. The top returnee from 2005 is midfielder David Harmond, a product of Stone High School. ership to this team,·· Thompson stated. Other top freshmen include Levi Pitts, a for– ward from Wayne County, andPatrickKarel. a keeper from St. Aloysius High in Vicksburg. Friday, August 25, when the Soccer Warriors host Mis– sissippi Delta Community College at 4 p.m. Regarding this year's squad, Thompson said he is confident the team will have what it takes to be successful.

"David has enough ener– gy for an entire team," Thompson stated. "I hope he can lead the team to suc– cess this year. David played in a variety of positions last year but I see most of his time at forward this year." Also returning are Kale Gardner, a defender from Wayne County, and Zerell Gardner, a keeper from Jackson Wingfield. Thompson said the fresh– man clasS has talent, "espe– cially fu the midfield areas...but depth may be a problem." One of the top freshmen is Austin Scoggin of New– ton County. Scoggins was an All-District performer and participated in the high school All-Star game this summer. "I'm looking for Austin to bring both skill and lead-

"Levi has great speed and has a natural nose for the goal. Patrick brings great hands and keeping ability to the team. He should defmitely help keep us in some games," Thompson said. Rounding out the fresh– man class are defender Kevin Roney, Wayne Coun– ty; forwards McClain Mullins of Faith Christian and Josh Johnson and Trey Whitehead, both of Southeast Lauderdale; and midfielders Jordan Monarch of East Central High School, Mark Craig of Stone, J oshua Moore of Walker, Ala., J effery Grimshel of Vicksburg and Noah Cook and Kevin Bennett, both of Newton County. Thompson said he anticipates adding two or three player s before the season gets underway on

"I am looking for us to return to that hustling, never-say-die trademark of former Warrior teams. I believe the players that are returning plus the new players coming in will fit that description," Thomp– son said. He added, "I'malso eager to get back to highly com– petitive games that go down to the wire. I have always liked that about our games. This year's group understands that and will work hard to provide some exciting moments for us." Serving as student train– er this year is Danyell Tay– lor of East Central High School. Student assistants are Anse Rigby of Forest, Katie Corley of Carthage, Mandy Holdiness of Louisville and Kayla Hen– derson of Wayne County.

"We had decent talent last year but never could seem to get everyone on the same page," Thompson stated. "Maybe Hw-ricane Katrina took us a toll on us as many team members from the Gulf Coast area were affected by the storm. But this year, the returning players have vowed to make up for last year's sea– son with renewed work habits and dedication to the team." Thompson said the high– light duringof last year's 2- 11-1 campaign was a match against Pearl River on the Poplarville campus. "Pearl River, last year's division champion, had a really good team but we played our best match of the year in a 3-2 loss that easily could ha\·e been a tie if we had not missed an

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