Cavaliers rebuilding
Prep has new facilities, players and head coach
When Augusta Prep's boys soccer team kicks off the 2006 season, it will have new locker rooms and a new workout facility.
It also will have a new starting team.
"It's going to be brand-new, fresh faces," first-year coach Forrest Wimberly said. "Half of the boys out here are freshmen."
The Cavaliers' top three scorers from last year's squad, Thomas Knerr, Cary Goldsmith and Michael Crosland, accounted for 67 of the team's 81 goals. None of those players will return this year, meaning the entire offense is wide open.
"Our top returning goal scorer is Alex Levy, the eighth-grader we brought up at the end of the season (last year). He had four goals," Wimberly said.
Despite the loss of personnel, spirits are still high at Augusta Prep. The Cavaliers might not know who will score their goals this season, but they know exactly who'll be stopping them.
Senior goalkeeper Harold Rivner and senior defenders Chris Burch and Phillip Tuten will all return as familiar veterans to the Augusta Prep roster.
"We're very experienced and very seasoned in the back. Those guys will be our rocks taking care of business," Wimberly said.
Not all the newcomers to Augusta Prep will join the team without experience. Griffen Eubanks, a sophomore in his first year at Augusta Prep, transferred to the Cavaliers this season from Lakeside.
"He's probably the fastest player we ever had here," Wimberly said. "He's going to be an unknown commodity. When he gets on the field he's going to get some attention real quick."
One last addition to the team this year is anything but a new face. Head coach Wimberly, an assistant coach at Augusta Prep for years, will take over the program after coach Doug Williamson left last winter.
Rivner said making the transition to a new coach hasn't been a problem at all.
"He's been here for so long it's just like having coach Williamson still. We have full confidence in coach Wimberly," Rivner said.
The season begins on the road Saturday at North Cobb Christian at 1 p.m. The Cavaliers' home opener is Aug. 29 against Bulloch Academy.