For the second straight year, the Rabun Gap-Nacoochee varsity soccer team is the North Carolina 4A state champions.
On their way to an 18-2-2 record, the Eagles went undefeated in region play and once again took down No. 1 seed Carmel Christian 1-0 in the North Carolina Independent Schools Athletic Association championship game.
After winning their last home playoff game 3-1 against Wesleyan Christian Academy on Tuesday, Oct. 25, the Eagles traveled to Cannon School in North Carolina. With about 20 minutes remaining in the first half, the Eagles earned a corner kick.
Senior Rafael Castillo, who leads the team in assists, stepped up to take the corner. Castillo sent in a perfect ball to the back post, where sophomore Jon Goedeke tapped it in cleanly. Goedeke had not scored a goal in nearly a month, but had knocked on the door multiple times including against Wesleyan last game.
“Having him score felt like the culminating moment for the year, just how good we are across the board,” first-year head coach Andrew Wiese said. “He was immense this entire game, he dominated the midfield and it felt like icing on the cake for him to get that goal.”
To make the goal more special, Goedeke’s father flew from Germany to see the game.
Goedeke’s sixth and final goal of the season could not have come at a better time, as it wound up being the deciding goal to bring the Eagles back-to-back state titles.
“It’s just a testament to how hard he worked in training,” Wiese said. “He had some really big goals for us this season.”
Wiese, a first-year head coach at Rabun Gap, gave all the credit to his team for back-to-back titles.
“It feels amazing to win this title, but all the credit goes to them,” Wiese said. “They had to adjust to me and a new system but they never complained and they really bought in. I’m so proud of them.”
Wiese said one of his favorite moments from the season was the last second win over Christ School on Sept. 2. Coincidentally, Goedeke scored that game winning goal as well to win 2-1.
“Our offense wasn’t really in place that early, so to grit out that win was huge to build momentum,” Wiese said. “Another big moment was losing 3-0 to Carmel Christian. I felt like we were the better team and it made us appreciate the run we were on. I always say we learn more from our losses than our wins.”
It’s safe to say the team learned from that loss, as they won 13 of 14 games to close out the season with the only loss coming against Carmel Christian.
Senior Hugo Garcia stopped five shots on the way to his 25th career shutout.
“I can’t speak enough about him, his quickness and his leadership both on and off the field,” Wiese said. “He’s just such an emotional leader of the team.”
The team was not even sure if Garcia would play in the game, as he strained his IT band in warmups with about three minutes before the game. Garcia refused to miss the game, however, and made big save after big save to help the Eagles go back-to-back.
“It’s just such a symbol of who he is,” Wiese said. “It’s a storyline not a lot of people know about and just watching him be that leader, it’s icing on the cake.
“I’m so happy I got to send these seniors off with another state title,” Wiese said. “They had to step up this year and maintain the culture. I want the world for them and to send them off with another ring, it is the perfect ending to their time here at Rabun Gap.”