Wildebeest dominate Francisco Hope Classic

SSFS still unbeaten

Wednesday, Sept. 14, 2005

Saturday, the Sandy Spring Friends School boys soccer team faced something of a moment of truth. The Wildebeest were defending their 2004 championship at the Francisco Hope Classic against the host school, St. Andrew’s, in Potomac. The Lions had won three of five previous meetings between the schools, and the Wildebeest just one — in last year’s Hope Classic title game.

‘‘Last year, we beat them 4-0 in the finals, and that was a huge step because we finally slew the dragon, so to speak,” Wildebeest coach Eduardo Polon said. ‘‘That was a testament to what our program has been aspiring to. This year, the question was, ‘Was that a fluke, or are we continuing in the right direction?’”

The answer didn’t take long in coming, and was resoundingly clear. Sandy Spring won the game, 7-0, and the tournament championship for the second straight year. Senior midfielder Chad Henry had three goals and two assists, and was named the tournament’s most valuable player.

The Wildebeest (3-0 overall, 1-0 in the Potomac Valley Athletic Conference) are rolling so far this season. In three games, they’ve outscored their opponents 22-0. In the tournament’s opening game last Thursday, Sandy Spring scored all nine of its goals in the first 27 minutes before calling off the dogs against Avalon (0-2), a third-year school that played a junior-varsity schedule last season. The Black Knights were a late replacement when St. Stephen’s⁄St. Agnes pulled out of the tournament.

St. Andrew’s, meanwhile, also shut out its first-round opponent, Edmund Burke, 3-0. Edmund Burke defeated Avalon, 10-0, in the consolation game.

The Lions got down to business in the Mid-Atlantic Conference Tuesday against Potomac (Va.), a game which finished too late to be included in this edition. Sandy Spring Friends also has a busy league slate this week, with a Thursday visit to Covenant Life following Tuesday’s game against the Field School.

‘‘So far, so good,” Polon said. ‘‘I’m just really happy with the balance. The offense has been exploding and the defense is a wall.”