By Titus Mohler

Correspondent

Each of Suffolk’s public schools had at least one representative on the 2012 All-Southeastern District second team for boys soccer.

For King’s Fork High School, senior mid-fielder Alex Wash burn and junior mid-fielder Kyle Beckett were named.

Head coach Mark Parsons praised both players for possessing tremendous character. Then, he broke down their individual strengths.

“Alex Washburn was my captain,” Parsons said. “He has played with the program for five years.”

Parsons said it was a huge help to have Washburn on the team all that time. He also indicated that it was special to track Washburn’s growth since first coaching him on a club team in Churchland prior to high school.

“I’ve really seen Alex develop as a player for quite a long time, and just to see him come full circle and to be a leader his senior year was really just a nice thing to watch as a coach,” Parsons said.

Within district competition, Washburn scored six goals and had two assists. He was a three-year letterman and currently plays on the Piranhas, a team that is part of a professional developmental league.

Another one of Parsons’ star mid-fielders was Kyle Beckett.

“Kyle is a very controlling mid-field player,” Parsons said. “I had him playing against some of the best offensive weapons on other teams.”

In a particularly high-stakes game against Indian River, Beckett was tasked with making sure 2012 Southeastern District Player of the Year Brandon Eaton did not score against the Bulldogs, and he was successful in that task.

Beckett also garnered praise for his unselfish play, leading the Bulldogs with six assists in district play to go along with two goals.

Lakeland’s presence on the all-district second team came from senior mid-fielder Evan Worley.

Coach Keith Arthur praised Worley for his versatility.

“Evan Worley is a very skilled soccer player,” he said. “I can put him anywhere on the field that I needed some extra help there. Most of the time, he either played mid-field or defense for me, because that’s where the ball sat most of the time against us.”

Despite playing defense for part of the year, Worley still managed to be a primary goal-scorer for the team.

He finished as a four-year letterman for Lakeland.

Nansemond River High School junior mid-fielder Ethan Scott and sophomore mid-fielder Chad Kozoyed also made the all-district second team.

“Each of them were essential mid-field players,” head coach Dustin Tordoff said.

Both served their second year as captains on a varsity team that included seven seniors.

“As far as stats go,” Tordoff said, “Ethan had more goals, and Chad’s always had more assists.”

Ethan had seven goals and four assists, while Chad produced four goals and twelve assists.

“If we were scoring,” Tordoff said, “the pass was coming from Chad and if it was going in, half of them were scored by Ethan and half of them were scored by another one of our mid-fielder players.”

Scott managed to score three of his seven goals while playing defensive back, and Kozoyed reached his tally of 12 assists, despite sitting out three games due to injuries.

“So, they’re both very good soccer players,” Tordoff said. “They have aspirations of going on and playing collegiate soccer, both of them, where a lot of kids out of Suffolk don’t really have that dream.”