The start of the Academic Magnet Raptors soccer season may be far away, but preparations are being made for the season ahead. Coach Jason Hamil is hyped for the season ahead hoping to “Runnit back” for State Champions. With many seniors leaving from last year, there are a lot of changes to the roster of this squad. I will list some of the new recruits to the Academic Magnet soccer team, and the supposed impact they are projected to have on the team this season.
Jack Ham- Cute but deadly, Jack Ham will be joining the varsity team in 2026. Playing as either a midfielder or a fullback, Jack Ham brings much to the table in terms of attacking ability as well as his defending capabilities. Despite his small and twinky size, Jack Ham manages to evade and hoodwink defenders. Jack Ham is known for his late game presence, as Coach Cooper Newman has dubbed Jack Ham’s late game appearances as a case of Jack going ham on defenses. Standing at a whopping height of 4 ’10, he is known for going under opponents legs and scoring bangers. The debate is over whether Jack will be playing fullback or midfield, as he has, in the past for high school, played in the midfield as either center attacking midfielder or center midfielder. This is different from how he has been playing more recently for his club soccer team at James Island, where he has been playing fullback or wing back.
Owen Farr– Owen Farr showed much promise towards the end of last year’s season as he was brought up to the varsity team later near playoffs and blew everyone away. Brother of Caitlin Farr, Owen can expect to be seeing his sister in the stands for many many games this year, as Caitlin Farr and star striker Jaidon Daley have kindled love interest as of recent. This connection will hopefully result in an improvement in team chem in the future. Owen, primarily playing in the midfield, should pose much impact to the team in the 2026 season as the team lost many midfielders as a result of the seniors leaving last year.
Jack Tierney– A potential option for the AMHS varsity team could be in Senior Jack Tierney. Jack Tierney showed off his potential in tryouts last year, becoming an unstoppable defender and showing off his superior skills on the ball. Supposedly playing as a center back this season, Jack could pose a large threat to opposing team’s attackers, stopping everything coming his way. Jack is listed as questionable for the upcoming season, as he is a busy man with much to do.
Last year the Raptors finished winning all of their games except for one, and going to a state championship, where they won 4-1. This was a very successful result for the Raptors, and the Raptors hope to continue this progression of results in the new calendar year ahead of them. This will however be a difficult feat to accomplish as the loss of eleven seniors will cause the team to overcome many hurdles to reach the same or similar success as the success reached in the last season. The star players lost to college include the following: Mark Sereda, a goalkeeper going to college at Duke University, Fritz Browning, a fullback going to college at Wake Forest University, Jack Keiffer, a winger and center defending midfielder who goes to college at University of Florida, Aiden Ruggierio, a center attacking midfielder going to college at Clemson University, James Bennetti, a center back going to college at University of South Carolina, Adi Katan, a goalkeeper going to Clemson University, Brady Smith, A center defensive midfielder going to Indiana University, Henry Jones, a fullback going to University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and Vaughn Hickerson, a center defensive midfielder at Clemson University. These losses will make it very difficult, especially concerning the midfield and the center backs along with the fullbacks that we lost. The following will be an outlook on the seniors that went to college, and what this means for the team.
Mark Sereda: The loss of Mark Sereda is a sad loss, as he was a great keeper and never failed to bail the team out in hard times when a seemingly unsavable ball would come towards the goal. The keeper spot, however, should be replaceable as the Raptors have much depth regarding the goalkeeper position.
Fritz Browning: Fritz showed out towards the end of the Varsity season, showing his impact on the wing and as a fullback. Unfortunately, Fritz sustained a brutal head injury at the end of his senior season, going out in an untimely manner right before playoffs began. This position is also replaceable however as star fullback Mateus Guimaraes is looking to pose much of an impact for the Raptors.
Aiden Ruggierro: Aiden was a star midfielder last year, making it seemingly impossible to steal the ball off of him. He recorded stunning stats in his four years and was a hard worker on the field, making himself a brutal loss for the squad. We do still have much depth in the midfielder category, especially with many midfielders getting called up from JV.
James Bennetti: Star center back James Bennetti has also left the Raptor team for college. This will be a difficult gap for the Raptors to fill, as James was a strong and fast center back extremely skilled at taking the ball away from defenders. This will hopefully be replaceable as Seniors Jace Gutting and Keon Hutchins will replace him.
Adi Katan: The bench presence of enthusiast Adi Katan will surely be missed, as he had a great reputation for pumping up the team during hard times and taking fire pictures per occasion. Adi also posed a threat on the field, scoring two goals and playing an important role as a goalkeeper. We do not know who will replace his passion on the bench yet, as it may be irreplaceable.
