Perfect touch: Stratford's Savage a beast of a scorer

GOOSE CREEK — Apparently, even the flu can't keep Austin Savage down long enough to stop him from scoring.

Stratford's junior striker recovered from nearly a week's worth of illness to score four goals in a 4-2 win against Sumter in boys' soccer on Wednesday to add to an already obscene amount of scoring this season.

The Knights improved to 6-2, and Savage has scored 23 of the team's 32 goals this season.

"He's a beast. He's the best player I've ever coached," second-year Stratford coach Sean Egnew said. "He has an innate ability to be a step ahead of everyone else. And what he does with the ball — he's done several things he just makes me shake my head."

Savage first started making an impact last season when he racked up 56 goals in his first season as a forward after spending his freshman year as a midfielder. He's still scoring with the same proficiency, but the goals haven't come any easier. Opponents, now aware of Savage's scoring prowess, are throwing everything they can at him in an effort to neutralize him.

"Every game, I'm at least triple-teamed. They have two players marking me and one more shadowing me," he said. "I respect what they do because I'd do the exact same thing. It's not really good for me, but it challenges me. I guess it's setting me up for the future."

In an effort to stop him, teams are inadvertantly making Savage better. The more defenders he has to deal with, the more he varies his game.

"I'm going to keep trying and trying to score. If they put four or five guys on me, that means there are three or four people who are open," Savage said. "I try to get rid of the ball earlier and try to play someone else through and hope they can close the deal.

"It makes me realize what I have to do is keep moving. A lot of (defenders) don't have the same endurance as I do and they get tired of following me."

Savage has done more than terrorize local goalkeepers. He's also a part of the Bridge Futbol Alliance's Under-16 team that plays a national schedule as one of 64 clubs in the U.S. Soccer Development Academy. Savage has scored 18 goals while the Bridge has compiled a 12-3-2 record against teams from across the nation.

"It's pretty nice. Every match is intense because we're playing against other top teams," he said.

Egnew said Savage is a well-rounded player who has a good mind for the game.

"He makes people around him better players. One of the things I like about him is his sleadership ability," he said. "One thing people probably don't know about him is he's probably one of our best defenders. If I need to, I know I can drop him back to lock down the other team."

He's already drawn interest from Erskine, South Carolina and Clemson, but in the meantime, he's working on helping the Knights establish themselves as a soccer power.

The Knights were 14-7 last year and reached the second round of playoffs. It was their first winning season in four years. It had an immediate impact on the popularity of the sport within Stratford. Egnew said 20 players tried out for the varsity team last year, but that number increased to 46 this season.

"We hope to go farther than the second round," Savage said. "We know we can do it. We just have to put our minds to it. I feel like we have a good team this year and we definitely can contend for a region title."

Reach Bill Henley at 937-5595 or bhenley@postandcourier.com.