By Bob Sutton
Special to The Alamance News
It was worth the wait for the Alamance Christian School boys’ soccer team after a seven-year championship drought.
The Warriors capped a dominating season with the North Carolina Christian School Association’s Class 2-A state title.
“I am extremely happy for this team and proud of the way they played soccer all season,” ACS coach Scott Yakola said. “This dream started a year ago after we had a tough loss in the state semifinals, but the boys made it their mission to get back to the final four and win.”
The Warriors defeated Wilson Christian 5-1 in the state final October 25 in Wilmington.
That result gave ACS its first state championship since 2018. The Warriors have captured 13 state titles in boys’ soccer.
“A big credit to our seniors who put it upon themselves to restore ACS soccer to the level it has been at before,” said Yakola, who was in his second season as head coach. “We just kept getting better as the year went on. It was fun to watch.”
The Warriors (21-1), who won their final 18 games following a 3-2 loss to Faith Christian of Ramseur in late August, outscored opponents by a combined 143-23 this season. They avenged that lone loss a few weeks later with a 7-4 victory.
It was a veteran team with 10 seniors, bolstered by high-scoring captains Garrett Brown and Holden Yakola, while classmates Askel Moum and Breyden Aiken were among other key contributors.
[Story continues below photos of team captains.]
In the semifinal against host Wilmington Christian, ACS prevailed 2-1 on a pair of first-half goals in less than a six-minute span from Brown on a penalty kick and Yakola on a 22-yard shot off an assist from Scott Cline.
Wilmington Christian (15-5-2) scored in the second half, but the Warriors held on.
“They play the same formation we do, but they emphasize some things a little differently, so we knew it would be a challenge,” Coach Yakola said.
The next day, the Warriors scored three goals in the first 20 minutes against Wilson Christian. Those came on Yakola’s header, Cline’s shot from in front of the net and Yakola’s rebound off Brown’s shot.
In the second half, Yakola set up Brown for a shot to make it 4-1 and Yakola provided the final goal on a header courtesy of Danny Meija’s delivery.
“We were really strong offensively all year, but our defense was just as good, giving up just one goal per game,” Coach Yakola said.
The defense was anchored by freshman goalkeeper Karl Mann. And it all worked out across the field.
“They were such a great group to work with and did everything we asked,” Coach Yakola said. “Their support for each other was amazing.”
