Roger Lee/Journal Scene

Ashley Ridge striker Tyler Haney works his way towards the goal.

It seems the success the Ashley Ridge boys’ soccer team experienced in the preseason was no fluke.

The Swamp Fox boys went 4-1 in preseason action and won the Gilbert Preseason Classic tournament.

That success has now carried into the regular season with the first-year, 2-A team jumping out to a 6-3 start with its losses being to a 4-A team and the four-time defending state champion of the 2-A class.

“It’s been a lot like I expected, but in some ways I’m pleasantly surprised,” Nate Harris, head coach of the team of freshmen and sophomores, said.

“It can be hard forming a team at a new school. We had people coming from Fort Dorchester and Summerville high schools and various middle schools, but they have all worked hard and really jelled.”

Ashley Ridge fell to 3-2 in Region 6-AA last week with its second loss to Bishop England, a team with eight appearances in the state championship game in the last eight seasons.

On the flip side, the team is still in second place for the region and the No. 6 ranked 2-A team in the state.

Plus last week, the Swamp Foxes earned their third victory over a 4-A team.

The Swamp Foxes defeated Colleton County 1-0 Friday in overtime on a goal by Seamus McKinney.

The game-winning shot came from the left side of the goal from about six yards out.

“Tyler Haney passed it in to me and I thought their goalie was going to get it, McKinney said. “He and another player collided so I just followed up. When I saw the ball again I just hit it.”

The shot with approximately 45 seconds remaining in the first of two overtime periods and broke the stalemate in a highly competitive game.

“They took it to us the first half,” Harris said. “We beat this team in the Rotary Classic earlier this year and I don’t think that didn’t set too well with them. You could tell when they came out they were ready. Colleton County was 4-1 coming into this game so I’m proud of our boys.”

Both teams had some nice shots on goal, but the keepers made the saves. Freshman Ivan Moreno picked up his second shutout in goal for the Swamp Foxes.

“Our goal keeper has done a great job this year and helped keep us in the game tonight,” Harris said. “He also did a great job against BE last night.”

Haney, a freshman who is already on the radar for college scouts, had a hand in many of the Ashley Ridge attacks on goal.

“Tyler is one of the prospects for 2012,” Harris said. “They were marking him pretty tight, so we adjusted our configuration to help him get away from that mark and it helped in the second half.”

The Swamp Foxes have games at Goose Creek and Garrett Tech this week and return home to take on Berkeley April 15.

Contact Roger Lee @ 873-9424 ext. 213 or rlee@journalscene.com.

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