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By Jason O. Boyd
For The Washington Daily News

CHOCOWINITY, N.C. – High school soccer made great strides in Beaufort County in 2023.
Southside’s program finished 18-7 overall and advanced to the third round of the Class 1-A state playoffs. The Seahawks had two players with 25 or more goals scored.

Washington made a second-round appearance in the Class 2-A state playoffs. The Pam Pack finished 15-6 overall with over 100 goals scored during the season.
Now, the task is to build on that success with a new team but the same set of goals.

Washington Pam Pack

Despite some struggles in their first four games, the Pam Pack had a 5-0 start to the season after Monday’s 4-2 victory at Manteo after wins over Edenton, West Carteret, D.H. Conley and North Lenoir.
So, things are definitely off to a good start despite some struggles to get in practices due to the weather and other reasons, according to coach Jim Kozuch.

“When we took on Edenton, we played like a team that had only practiced three days,” Kozuch said. “We weren’t too hot, made a few mistakes. Every game has gotten better,” Kozuch said. “We took on a very good opponent at West Carteret. They are a bigger school and a better matchup for us. … Conley is a team; I can’t tell you the last time we beat them. We played a complete game. We had a good goal in the first half and laid down two more after that in the second half.”

The Pack returns four All-Conference players from last year including senior Lane Brown and juniors David Barrera, Tucker Colville and Will Glover, who led the team with 23 goals.

Kozuch said his team is still working to find other goal scorers but “has a pretty solid defense now.” Players like junior center midfielder Hector Olivares will also help. As the season goes, Kozuch is hopeful a strong non-conference schedule will make his team stronger against teams within the Eastern Plains Conference like Greene Central and North Pitt. After winning nine straight conference titles, the Pam Pack have finished second the past two seasons.

“It’s still early, but hopefully we are building momentum,” Kozuch said. “We took second last year and the year before, and I think we are tired of second. We want to be back on top. I think we’ve put out time in, and we are gonna have a battle.”

Southside Seahawks

To be the best, you have to play against the best. The Seahawks have been proving that and have the miles to show for it.

After starting the season with losses at Camden County and Pender County, the Seahawks bounced back with victories at Northeastern (5-0) and Ayden-Grifton (3-1) before opening their home schedule Wednesday against West Craven.
Coach Jay Petty is doing all of that with 19 freshmen and sophomores and just one senior, Pedro Chavez-Pullman, who had nine goals and nine assists last season. Southside graduated Kenny Esparza (46 goals, 19 assists) and Jonathan Perez (28, 18) from a very talented team.

“They are all talented, but we’ve got to get everybody to mesh,” Petty said. “That’s what we are doing now, trying to figure out who goes where and who needs to be able to do what. We’re working through that process right now. We have some talent in that freshman and sophomore class. Pedro is our lone senior and he’s really tried to take everything under his shoulders to try and pull everybody together.”

Things got off to a good start in the season opener, trailing Camden County 1-0 at the half before the Bruins pulled away early in the second half. Petty said he’s hopeful the tough schedule will pay off come the conference season.

“I’m excited personally to play as many games as we can,” Chavez-Pullman said. “We had to cancel some games last year because of the weather. … Maybe we’ll score less goals and more goals will be scored against us, but the goal is to improve.”

Chavez-Pullman contributed a goal as the Seahawks picked up their first victory, 5-0, at Northeastern Thursday.