Here’s how a .500 Charlotte-area prep team became a 4A state soccer championship finalist
Did Marvin Ridge boys’ soccer coach Jason Zak think in early September that his team might be a state championship contender?
Zak didn’t hesitate with his answer.
“Heck, no!” Zak said emphatically.
“But two weeks ago?” he added, “Well, maybe.”
Sure enough. Here here we are, on the eve of the 4A state championship soccer match, and Marvin Ridge (17-4-2) is the last team left from the West. The Mavericks will face East champion Wakefield (21-4) for the title at 11 a.m. Saturday at the Matthews SportsPlex.
The state soccer championship weekend begins at 7 p.m. Friday, with Clinton (26-2) facing Southwestern Randolph (25-2) for the 2A title.
Three more championship games will follow Saturday, opening with the 4A match.
Following that will be 1A championship at 2 p.m., between Mount Airy (23-3) and Hobbton (23-5-1); and then the 3A finals, pitting Western Alamance (24-1) against Asheboro (27-2) at 6 p.m.
Marvin Ridge was a 4-4-2 team on Sept. 12, after a 1-0 loss to Covenant Day.
“We had some injury issues early,” said Zak, who has been coaching high school soccer for nearly 25 years, starting at Independence in 2000. “We had five or six starters out in the opening match.”
But there were other issues.
“We were trying different systems,” Zak added. “Once we figured it out, it went a lot better.”
Early in the season, Zak said, the Mavericks didn’t react well to adversity.
“We would give up a goal, and we’d put our heads down,” he said. “It took a come-to-Jesus moment for things to change.”
Zak and assistant coach Keith Koteles provided that “come-to-Jesus” moment for the team, explaining that they needed to rely on their skills and trust more in the process — and in one another.
“The seniors on this team have provided leadership for us,” said sophomore striker Collin McKee, who is tied for the team lead in goals with 13. “That’s been a big reason for the way we’ve come on.”
Since that Sept. 12 loss, Marvin Ridge’s record is 14-0.
“The mentality is different now,” Zak said. “Our players have done a much better job of reacting to what happens during a game.”
In last Saturday’s 4-3 double-overtime quarterfinal victory at Myers Park, the Mavericks built a 3-1 lead — only to see Myers Park come back and tie. McKee then won it with a goal late in the second overtime.
Zak and the Marvin Ridge program aren’t strangers to state soccer championship matches.
The Mavericks won it all in 2013 and 2016, and lost in the 2018 title game. All of those came when the school was in the 3A size classification.
That enabled Zak to know how to treat the time after his team’s 3-1 semifinal victory Tuesday over Charlotte Catholic.
“We enjoyed the moment — and then we went back to work,” he said.
Wakefield’s road to the Matthews SportsPlex has been a bit different.
The Wolverines won their first seven matches and were 14-1 in mid-October. Then they hit a rough patch and went 4-3 over a three-week stretch. That included a pair of losses to conference foe Rolesville, but Wakefield responded with a 5-1 rout of Rolesville in the playoffs.
Senior Ibra Ndiaye leads the Wolverines with 23 goals, and he was among three scorers when Wakefield beat Green Hope 3-2 on penalty kicks Tuesday in the East Regional finals.
“Playing at Matthews will be big,” said Zak, referring to the big crowds that Marvin Ridge drew to many home matches this season. “It will be like a home-field advantage. We had that through the playoffs, and it was important.”
“But the big thing,” he added, “will be continuing to play the way we’ve done down the stretch. We have to keep that same mentality, of being able to bounce back when things don’t go right.”
Notes
▪ It’s double duty this weekend for a pair of Marvin Ridge soccer players. Sophomore goalkeeper Ford Fehling and junior winger Haiden Ratike will play with the Maverick football team Friday night, then join the soccer squad Saturday morning.
Fehling is the football team’s placekicker, and Ratike is the punter. Marvin Ridge plays at Northern Guilford in the second round of the football playoffs Friday night.
▪ Keith Koteles coached the Marvin Ridge girls’ soccer team for nearly a decade but stepped away last spring to spend more time with his family. “He knew he had a good team coming back,” Zak said.
Jenna Borrelli answered the call to coach the Maverick girls and guided them to the 4A state championship. But Koteles will have a chance to coach a state title team this weekend, after all.
NCHSAA state finals
CLASS 4A
Saturday’s state final at Matthews SportsPlex
Marvin Ridge (18-4-2) vs. Wakefield (22-4), 11 a.m.
CLASS 3A
Saturday’s state final at Matthews SportsPlex
Asheboro (27-2) vs. Western Alamance (24-1), 6 p.m.
CLASS 2A
Friday’s state final at Matthews SportsPlex
Southwestern Randolph (25-2) vs. Clinton (27-2), 7 p.m.
CLASS 1A
Saturday’s state final at Matthews SportsPlex
Mount Airy (23-3) vs. Hobbton (23-5-1), 2:30 p.m.