Top teams seek to rise above the pack

By Doug Binder, DyeStat Editor

The NXN Southeast meet at Wake Med Soccer Park in Cary, N.C. could be every bit a competitive and close as previous meets at NXN Southwest, Midwest and Northwest. The boys teams who finished the season ranked in the top five all seem evenly matched.

This is a meet where somebody will break through and make some history.

Marietta GA and Dulaney MD were the top two teams in their respective states, but neither school has ever qualified for NXN. Mount Tabor NC got a big win over Needham Broughton in the North Carolina state meet. Neither of those teams has ever qualified for NXN.

Eric Walz from Dulaney, Jeremy Brown from Broughton and Kenny Kneisel from Mount Tabor and Carlos Torres from Marietta should all be up near the front of the pack fighting for their respective teams.

St. Xavier of Kentucky may come in as Southeast No. 4, but this school has had success in the past. St. Xavier seeks its third NXN berth following trips in 2005 and 2012.

Historically, boys teams from the Southeast have not fared well at NXN. The lone exception was Brentwood TN’s third place finish in 2013. Outside of that, no team from the Southeast has placed higher than 10th at the national meet.

This year’s group of top teams is out to change that perception and it starts Saturday.

Virginia teams Lake Braddock (6A) – led by Kate Murphy – and Blacksburg (3A) are the top two ranked teams coming into the meet. Lake Braddock is seeking its first appearance at NXN and with Murphy likely to win the race there is a good chance. Blacksburg was seventh at NXN last year and is seeking its fourth trip to nationals.

Mountain Brook AL and Lawton Chiles FL are riding the momentum of state meet victories and hoping to extend that success into the postseason. Alabama has not qualified a girls team since 2007; Florida not since 2005.

The Riverside girls from Greenville, S.C. have been ranked all season and dominated the state meet. They are trying to become the first team from South Carolina to advance to NXN, but come in ranked fifth in the region.