LAURINBURG — Monday’s match against Lumberton was the last home game for Scotland High’s talented boys soccer senior class.
The Scots honored those nine seniors, including leading scorer Adolfo Duran, prior to their match with Lumberton.
“It’s been awesome. It’s been good to play with this team,” Duran said.
The result, a 7-2 loss, wasn’t ideal for the senior class. But the group helped drive Scotland’s offense most of the night, and senior captain Andrew Oswald scored one of the Scots’ goals.
The seniors will wrap up their high school careers with a match at Richmond on Wednesday night. Duran, Oswald, Danny Reyes, Tra’von Campbell, Shane Tyson, Maurice Armstrong, Logan Everett, Quron McDonald and Chance Byrd will all put on Scotland jerseys for the final time. It will be a bittersweet occasion for second-year head coach Blake Dickerson and the soccer team; those players have taken integral roles in helping create a new culture within the program. But Dickerson has also had a couple years to see younger players compete for the Scots, and their potential is something to be excited about.
“(This senior class) is my last original group from my first year here,” Dickerson said. “They’re a special group. Your first team is a special team to you, so to see those guys go is something different.
“It just really shows you that you have to adjust now and look to the future,” he added. “… That first group, that first season, really helped me develop the program here — do things a little differently than other people, or carry things over from other people. They’re very special. They’ve helped me build what I want to build here. We’ve got to keep progressing.”
The Scots have shown much improvement this season. They’ve been able to generate scoring opportunities at a higher rate than they did last year. They are graduating some key players on offense and defense, but the Scots have a strong senior class coming in next year. That group includes Connor Bert, who tied with senior Danny Reyes for the second-most goals on the team this year (3). Starting goalkeeper Blake Wood is also wrapping up his junior season.
