Undefeated and No. 1! Cardinal Newman soccer secures another state championship
Cardinal Newman boys soccer has had a lot of success over the last 18 years under the tutelage of Will Eudy. On Saturday, the Cardinals put the stamp on the program’s fifth-straight SCISA championship with a 4-0 victory over rival Hammond in the 4A title game.
But the win signified something else. Cardinal Newman finished undefeated, something that hasn’t happened under Eudy — or in program history.
“We’ve had a lot of great teams here and a lot of great players,” Eudy said. “I don’t know if a group put together the type of performances that this group has. When you go undefeated, you don’t lose one you’re not supposed to. And that’s hard because people always give you their best. That wasn’t easy.”
Not only did they go unblemished against the best the SCISA ranks had to offer, but they also played public school powers Lexington, Powdersville, Christ Church, Riverside and Chapin. Throw in a trip to England for two games during spring break and you end up with a 19-0-1 record that has the Cardinals ranked No. 20 in the latest United Soccer Coaches high school poll.
“We went to England and played two games and went undefeated there, won one and tied one,” Eudy said. “They’ve answered the bell every time it comes. And that’s not easy. I’m super proud of them. It’s been a heck of a year. Hopefully this gets us a little bit higher up in the rankings and we can finish the season on a high. It’s a hell of a night. Congratulations, Cards.”
Saturday’s game was the third of the season against Hammond (8-8), and this one turned out much like the previous two. The Cardinals defeated the Skyhawks 4-0 on April 15 and again by the same score on April 30.
Grayson White was instrumental in making sure things ended the same way this time. The senior forward scored a hat trick, giving him 33 goals and 27 assists to finish his season. His first goal came in the 19th minute when Dakota Venugopal cleared a long pass that Owen Thompson controlled and gave an easy assist to White for the goal.
White later added a goal in the 34th minute and then again on a penalty kick in the 54th minute. Thompson added the other Cardinal Newman goal in the 49th minute.
“If anybody has had a better season in high school than Grayson White, I’d like to see it,” Eudy said. “In 19 games, that dude has been on fire, and he’s done it in every single big game.”
White was reflective of the day and what the Cardinals accomplished. Spearheaded by goalkeeper Ben Pickren and defenders Tristan Berzins and Luke Stanek, Cardinal Newman allowed 12 goals all season with 11 shutouts.
“We set out and said we were going to go undefeated from the start,” White said. “We played every single game to the best of our ability, and we won every single game. There’s not a single game where we went out there and lostm and that’s something a lot of teams aren’t able to say. It starts with our coaches. And it’s so much fun to play with this team.”
