Friendlies: Mount Tabor, Reynolds enter soccer playoffs unbeaten thanks to coaching buddies
When the second round of the girls soccer state tournaments get underway on Thursday, Reynolds and Mount Tabor will put their unbeaten records to the test.
Reynolds, the No. 1 seed in the 7-A West, will take on Central Piedmont 8A/7A Conference rival East Forsyth, a team it beat twice during the regular season.
Mount Tabor, the No. 2 seed in the 6-A West, will play at home against No. 18 North Iredell.
The Demons are 15-0-4 and shared the CPC title with West Forsyth. The Spartans are 16-0-2 and won the Piedmont-Triad 6A/5A.
Their coaches, Thomas Moore at Reynolds and Jay Callahan at Mount Tabor, are great friends. The two coached together at Salem College for seven years until their paths diverged into the high school ranks.
This is Moore's 11th season at Reynolds and Callahan's second season at Mount Tabor after coaching at Reagan for several years.
"We talk to each other every day," Moore said. "I got my start in coaching with him at Salem and I consider him a mentor and a close friend. I don't think that either of us could have imagined that having both of our teams going unbeaten during a season could have happened, let alone in the same season. But it's definitely pretty cool."
Callahan joked that it's a lot easier to share information and strategy with Moore now during their conversations since they aren't playing in the same conference any more.
"We will run ideas off of each other and I can feel comfortable about it now," Callahan said with a laugh. "We have similar ideas on a lot of things. And we take fun shots at each other."
It also shouldn't come as a surprise that in the two meetings between Reynolds and Mount Tabor this season, both games ended in ties.
They tied in the championship game of the Soccer Spectacular on March 5, but the Demons got the trophy when they prevailed 5-4 in penalty kicks. They tied 1-1 on March 18, the first game back for both teams from spring break.
The other two ties for the Demons came against West Forsyth.
"Looking back from school records, we haven't won a conference championship in 20 years in girls soccer," Moore said. "That was the year I graduated from Reynolds. The highest we have finished in the conference since I have been here was tied for second, and that was in my second year.
"None of the kids on this team have finished above fourth place during their careers," he added. "I think our success so far this season stems from us getting rolling early, and because of our team culture. They are playing together and playing for one another and being resilient."
Callahan said that team chemistry has been a key factor in this year's success.
"We've got a good group of older players that have merged together well with our younger players. But did we think we would get to this point? I'm not sure," Callahan said. It's very difficult to go undefeated. And that both our teams were able to do this in the same year, that's pretty special.
"We had two even contests with them at the beginning of the season that ended in ties. If you asked us at that point, we both would have probably said that we would be pretty good. But I don't think we would have thought either of us would be undefeated. I'm very proud of Thomas for what he has done with the Reynolds program."
Callahan, who also graduated from Reynolds, was inducted into the Salem College Hall of Fame in 2025. He coached there for 10 years and finished with a career record of 140-43-8, which is the most wins in program history.
Moore said that winning the Soccer Spectacular was one of the highlights for his team so far, and also pointed to beating Northwest Guilford the first time they played on April 15.
"I think that really gave us the confidence that we can beat the teams that have been a step above us the last few years," Moore said.
Callahan said that a key point in the Spartans' season came during a week when their leading scorer, Sophie Wyshner, was away training with the U.S. National Team in Florida.
"We won both of our games that week, including one against a really tough Oak Grove team," Callahan said. "The girls really stepped up when Sophie was away and that may have been the best game we played this season."
Mount Tabor's girls and boys soccer teams were also one of eight schools in the state recognized by the NCHSAA with the Commissioner's Trophy and a $1,000 stipend for its community service during the school year. The boys and girls teams delivered meals and offered fellowship to people in the community who experience transportation issues and loneliness.
"We're in the playoffs now," Callahan said. "It's win or go home. Everybody you play is going to be good. We are healthy, and that's important. If we can play our game we can make a good run."
Moore remembers telling his group of seniors who were freshmen four years ago to be patient and the results will follow.
"I remember saying to them, ‘Just wait. Trust what we are doing, trust what's happening and four years from now, look back on what's happened,'" Moore said. "This is a full-circle moment for them. The last few years, we were seeing the progression but not necessarily seeing the results. And keeping that belief was important. That's pretty special."
NCHSAA STATE SOCCER TOURNAMENTS
SECOND ROUND PAIRINGS
(Must be played by Thursday)
Class 8-A West
No. 5 West Forsyth at No. 4 Charlotte Ardrey Kell
Class 7-A West
No. 16 East Forsyth at No. 1 Reynolds
Class 6-A West
No.18 North Iredell at No. 2 Mount Tabor
Class 5-A East
No. 14 Durham School of Arts at No. 3 Oak Grove
Class 5-A West
No. 11 Monroe Parkwood at No. 6 North Davidson
No. 15 Atkins at No. 2 Hickory
Class 4-A East
No. 13 Roanoke Rapids at No. 4 Ledford
No. 10 Central Davidson at No. 7 Washington
Class 4-A West
No. 13 Waynesville Tuscola at No. 4 Ashe County
No. 11 Wilkes Central at No. 6 East Gaston
No. 10 Forbush at No. 7 Monroe Central Academy
Class 3-A West
No. 9 East Davidson at No. 8 Morganton Patton
No. 12 Monroe Union Academy at No. 5 West Davidson
No. 11 East Surry at No. 6 Trinity
Class 2-A West
No. 16 Alleghany at No. 1 Bishop McGuinness
No. 11 Elkin at No. 6 Comm. School of Davidson
No. 15 East Wilkes at No. 2 Mtn. Island Charter
Class 1-A West
No. 5 Bethany Community at No. 4 North Stokes
No. 7 Highlands at No. 2 N.C. Leadership Academy
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