Undefeated Westminster Varsity Boys Soccer Wins 500th Program Game

Athletics

General

4/14/2023

On Thursday, April 13, 2023 Westminster Schools of Augusta added to its 50th anniversary year of celebrations with a 500th program win for its varsity boys soccer team. The team is undefeated at 15-0-1 and 500 program wins with three regular season games left to play in the season.

The boys secured the 500th program win with a 3-0 win at home against St. Andrew's School out of Savannah, Ga.

Under the leadership of new head coach Shawn Brower, the boys have shown tremendous growth, determination, and perseverance against teams that are from much bigger schools. This year alone, the boys have beaten 5A, 6A, and 7A schools behind the stout defense of captains Creed Barrett and Eli Daniel, while goalkeeper Henry Campbell has secured 11 shut-outs in 16 games. The top three goal scorers on the team are Watts Hitchcock, Jack Barrett, and William Jeffords.

"I could not be more proud of this team, their deep sense of brotherhood and how that translates to how they compete on the pitch. These boys respect the soccer tradition at Westminster and recognize God's rich blessing on their lives to be part of this team and this moment," said Coach Brower.

Westminster soccer has a storied history. While the program began in the 1970s, the start of recordkeeping in 1986 shows humble beginnings with a zero win season. The program has truly been built from the ground up, with steady improvement through the late 80s under Coach Jamie Brabenic, and Coaches Todd Erickson and Mike Freace in the 90s.

That improvement came quickly, as the team first made the state playoffs in 1989. In fact, the Wildcats have only missed the state playoffs in one of the last 34 years, accounting for the 2010 season that was not played when switching from a fall to a spring sport and the 2020 season that ended early due to COVID.

The Westminster Wildcats earned their first State Championship in 2000 under coach Mike Freace. They followed that with two more championships in 2001 and 2004 under Coach Kian Brownlee. Then, beginning in 2014, the boys went on a six year run of championships from 2014-2019 with Coaches Mike Freace and Sean McLarnon.

Since 1989, the varsity boys soccer team has been region champions 25 times, reached the GISA semi-finals 25 times, were state runners-up three times and state champions ten times.