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South Range Raiders make history in Poland
poland
South Range completed its first undefeated season and sealed its Inter-Tri County League championship run with a 0-0 tie at Poland on Wednesday.
Eight years ago, nobody believed it could ever happen.
The Raiders simply didn’t have a soccer program back then; it wasn’t until 2004 that a team was fielded. For the past four years, South Range has been able to break away from the coed level and form both boys and girls teams.
“We’re making history,” said senior Billy Ludt. “To get an undefeated season is really going out on a high mark.”
It was just their second scoreless tie of the season as they finished the year 13-0-3. A win would’ve been nice, but it didn’t matter to coach Bill Wagenhouser.
“We’d love to win every game,” he said. “Just to come up to Poland and play well enough was a fun accomplishment in itself. This was a great game to set us up for the tournament.”
The rain and wet conditions made for a defensive battle. Both teams tallied double digits in shots but couldn’t deliver to the net.
Andy Lacefield prefers it that way.
“I love playing in the rain and on a slippery field,” he said. “The ball rolls so much faster, but you can get tired pretty quick. Defense is the name of the game.”
His older brother played on the first organized South Range team. That year the Raiders won just three games. For Lacefield to write his own name in Raider history is something he will never forget.
“[This program] just came out of nowhere,” he said. “Our class started playing together really young, then we became freshmen and we’ve kept growing and getting better.”
Even though they didn’t necessarily have a high school team to look up to when they were younger, seven seniors took matters into their own hands. They played pick up games and joined club and travel teams. So, when their time came to lead a squad for the school, chemistry played a big advantage.
“It heps so much because I know what guys like Jordan [Baker] and Joel [Skidmore] are doing as they run down the field,” Lacefield said. “It’s so much easier playing with guys you’ve known.”
Poland used the non-conference match to set themselves up for their own tournament run. The Bulldogs (6-8-3) play Liberty on Monday.
“We didn’t want to look at this in a win-loss perspective,” said Poland coach Brad Sackella. “The bar was set high with them coming in undefeated, so I’m glad we played them tough.”