Playoff win a bright CCS sign

When Concord Christian School’s boys soccer team played St. Andrews-Sewanee School in the first round of the Division II-A East Region Tournament Tuesday, May 3, it may have signaled a bright future ahead for the Lions program.

Winning 3-1, first-year CCS head coach Fernando Lopez said he was “very, very happy with the whole team. Very happy with the results. I think from this first year we have a very solid foundation for next year” with all 15 players returning.

“Everyone is coming back; I have no seniors,” he added. “I think next year we can win the district and go to the state tournament. That’s our goal.

“We were very excited about the postseason. I wish we could have gone further, but we have a good idea of what to expect next season.”

Key players for CCS (7-5-1 overall, 3-3 district) were sophomore midfielder Franklin Von Hagan, junior forward Marshall Craft and sophomore goalkeeper Kaden Sherritze.

Craft led the team with 11 goals and added six assists. Von Hagan had seven goals and eight assists.

“He’s very fast and shifty,” Lopez said of Von Hagen. “He’s very creative … a key player.”

As for Craft, “He’s very fast, he can score with both feet, he is a leader and his work ethic is one of the best on the team,” the coach said.

Sherritze, according to Lopez, is one of the best goalies in the district who “has come a long way. He’s kept us in a lot of games because of his athleticism and technique.”