Hardeeville wins Class A boys soccer state crown in school's second year of existence
Hurricanes beat defending state champion Dixie 3-2 to claim title
Columbia -- In only its second year as a school, Hardeeville High School can claim the title of state champíon in boys soccer.
Hardeeville defeated defending state champion Dixie 3-2 in the Class A state championship match at Memorial Stadium on Thursday, May 21. The win avenged a loss to Dixie in last year’s finals.
Hardeeville ended the season on a 9-match winning streak
With the score tied at 2 into the second overtime, freshman Caden Mitchell delivered the game-winning goal and the defense made it stand over the final minutes.
Fabian Ramirez had the assist on Mitchell’s goal and also scored Hardeeville’s first goal on a penalty kick in the first half.
Dixie would not go away and tied the contest before halftime and took a 2-1 lead early in the second half.
Hardeeville got the equalizer on a goal from Efrain Tinoco.
Tinoco and Ramirez were named All-State as was Jayden Cruz
Hardeeville head coach Misael Garzon is in his first season at the school, coming over from May River. He was confident his team would perform in the final.
“They say, ‘If you come at the king, you best not miss,’ and that’s what the boys did tonight,” Garzon said. “It speaks to the determination, they wanted to come back here, they wanted to win. When we found out it was Dixie, they wanted this match, they wanted revenge. They wanted to show that last year was a fluke and that this year we were going to earn it and we did.”
Hardeeville finished with 18 wins this season.
The Hurricanes managed 22 shots, 11 on goal, in the finals.
