Local teams look for deep run in soccer playoffs

ASHEBORO — Past experiences are used throughout a high school sports season and one past experience along with not wanting to risk injury has led to an unconventional, but perhaps wise decision for two Randolph County soccer teams.

With Southwestern Randolph High School and Randleman High School tying for the Piedmont Athletic Conference regular season title with 11-1 league records, a “playoff” game to determine seedings for the upcoming state playoffs normally would be used to break that tie.

But an incident that occurred in last year’s “playoff” game when the two teams tied for the title once again has led to the agreement from both coaches not to play that “playoff” game this year and give one team the automatic top seed for the upcoming playoffs, which begin Saturday.

SWR, which is seeded No. 1 in the 2-A West Region according to RPI rankings, and RHS, which was 11th in the RPI rankings last week, have agreed not to play that extra game and give SWR the top seed for this year’s playoffs. 

The proposal was discussed by SWR coach Jimmy Walker and RHS coach Sean Fitzgibbon. The Tigers will earn the second seed from the PAC.

“It’s kind of complicated,” said Fitzgibbon, the longtime mentor at RHS. “Last year, we did play that play-in game and we won. But in talking to the team captains this year, we felt in last year’s first round game we were tired. It was a really tough game against Monroe (a penalty kick shootout loss after regulation and the overtime ended 0-0). And when you play an extra game, you have to be worried about injuries. We were concerned about injuries going into the playoffs. We have a strong team and feel we can make a run of it if everyone is healthy.”

In last year’s tie-breaker game, one of the SWR players suffered a torn ACL, eliminating him from the postseason. Neither coach wanted a similar fate to occur again.

“Basically, they saw we were ranked No.1 and their RPI was 14 or 13 or right around there and rather than play and risk injury, they gave us the top seed in the conference,” Walker said. “We lost a player to a torn ACL last year in that game and neither of us wanted that to happen to either team. 

“Coming off the game last year we really didn't have to play and losing the kid really changed how I think of things. It obviously did with Randleman as well.”

Fitzgibbon agreed.

“I feel like we made the right choice,” he said. “Even if we did play and beat SWR, we would have gone to maybe nine or 10 in the RPI rankings. That doesn’t change the picture too much and it’s not worth the risk of having someone injured.”

The Tigers proved their mettle in a 2-0 win over the Cougars on Oct. 16.

“It was probably the biggest win in our program’s history,” Fitzgibbon said. “Having battled back and forth with them over the past few years and knowing what a quality team they are, it kind of buoyed us to finish the year out.”

The Tigers finished the year with shutout wins over Uwharrie Charter and Providence Grove before topping Central Davidson 7-2 and Trinity 3-1. RHS will take a 15-7-2 record into Saturday’s playoff action.

The Cougars, who have outscored opponents 131-21, will take a 20-2 record into the playoffs.

But to add another layer to the story, both coaches had to decide what to do with the extra week of the regular season that was added by the NCHSAA to help the teams in the Western part of the state make up games lost after Hurricane Helene. 

As expected, for the same reasons they did not play the playoff game, both coaches elected not to add another regular season game.

“It goes back to losing a kid with the ACL last year,” said Walker, even though his team will have nearly two weeks without a game heading into the playoffs. “The competition in the first and second round will get us back into the game shape mode and we will have a strong jayvee team that will continue to challenge our varsity team in practice. This will give us time for a couple of people to heal up.”

The Cougars will be relying on the play of Fernando Hernandez, who has scored 37 goals, Aaron Avina, who has 32, and Yael Rebollar Ortiz, who has added 18 goals and 16 assists. Noah Freeman and Daniel Arellano are key defenders.

SWR has recorded 10 shutouts, five mercy wins (leading by nine goals), including the last three, and four 8-0 victories. 

“What’s nice about our team this year is you can’t key in on just one player,” Walker said. “The triangle works well together and you sprinkle in a couple of your outside mids getting involved and the result is one of the highest offenses ever at SWR.”

That offense, along with the Tigers’ talent, will be on display Saturday.