So far, the 2009 prep season has been magical for Hurricane High School.
Ironically, it'
s not the football team making the most noise – although it has won three consecutive games.
This one is about some of the minor sports at Hurricane that are receiving major attention. The Redskins golf team finished off a perfect season by winning its third consecutive Class AAA state championship. The boys soccer team is 17-0, nationally ranked and hasn't given up a goal this season. And the girls soccer team is 11-0-4 and has six consecutive shutouts dating to Sept. 17.
Here's a look at the Hurricane accomplishments:
Golf – The Redskins won their third consecutive state title last weekend at Wheeling's Oglebay Resort. The course, a par-71 design by Robert Trent Jones, typically filters the best golfers during the state tournament.
Hurricane, made up of seniors Aaron Barna, Brian Anania, Sam Booth and Taylor Green, was the fourth team in state history to win three straight crowns – and the first since the sport was split into three classes in 2002, reflecting the rising number of high school golf teams in the state.
The three other teams to win three in a row were Buckhannon-Upshur (1980-82) and Barboursville (1983-85), both of which won three in a row when golf had only one class; Bridgeport (1992-94) won three in Class AA-A beginning five years after the sport was split into two classes and Huntington (1997-99) won three straight as a Class AAA school in a two-class system.
The 2009 season was wrapped up last Wednesday with the second Hurricane golfer in three years to win individual medalist honors. This time, Anania defeated Barna in a one-hole playoff. Barna won the 2007 state crown. Wheeling Park's Marshall Hone won the 2008 individual crown.
Boys soccer – Coach Jim Dagostine's boys soccer team has opened the season with 17 consecutive victories and has not given up a goal. The Redskins defense has been outstanding, leaving goalkeeper Noah Blackhurst with little work trying to stop shots on goal.
In 17 games, Hurricane has scored 91 goals, owning the nation's longest active goals-against streak in the nation. The Redskins are 12th in the National Soccer Coaches Association of America Poll. Hurricane came into last week unranked, making the biggest leap of any team in the poll.
"It's been special," Dagostine told the Charleston Daily Mail.
Their toughest game to date was on the road against defending Class AAA state champion Parkersburg, and the Redskins came away with a 2-0 victory. The 2007 Hurricane team reached the state title game, only to fall 1-0 to another Kanawha Valley team, George Washington.
Hurricane plays host to Riverside on Tuesday before the Mountain State Athletic Conference playoffs. Their MSAC playoff foe is expected to be Beckley, a team the Redskins defeated 1-0 on Sept. 24 (one of two 1-0 victories by Hurricane this season, the other being George Washington).
Girls soccer – Garnering less attention because of the nationally recognized success of the boys team, the girls have an 11-0-4 record. The Redskins have won 11 of their past 12 games after beginning the season with three consecutive 2-2 ties. The last time the Hurricane girls team surrendered a goal was in a 2-1 victory over George Washington on Sept. 17. Since then, the Redskins have outscored their opponents 24-0 with the only non-victory being a 0-0 tie against Spring Valley on Sept. 19.
Neither Hurricane soccer team has won a state championship. Since the golf team wrapped up its third straight crown, the soccer teams appear poised to get their first.
Rich Stevens, a sportswriter for the Charleston Daily Mail, covers West Virginia
for MaxPreps.
