Rising Stars: PSHS boys and girls soccer teams set early season tone

The Philip Simmons High School boys’ soccer team is off to another impressive start to begin the season, which, if past history under coach Patrick Gunderson is any indication, means the Iron Horses are headed to another successful season.

 

The Iron Horses are 4-0 to begin the 2025 season, outscoring foes 11-1 to continue the trend of starting the season on a positive note.

 

Gunderson is a 48-year-old native of Norway and has been in the United States the past 13 years. He was an assistant at PSHS in 2020, the year the season was cut short by COVID-19.

 

Since then, he has built the program into a state power. The team, ranked No. 4 to begin the season in Class AA, had its best season ever last spring and reached the third round of the Class AAA playoffs.

 

In 2021, Gunderson inherited a program that was coming off a COVID-19 season that included only four games on the schedule. The team won its first six games of the 2021 season and finished 14-4.

 

The following season, the Iron Horses won five straight games and finished 15-2. In ’23, they opened with eight straight wins and concluded with a 19-5 record. 

 

Last spring, the Iron Horses won four of their first five and set a school record with 20 victories. Add the four victories in ’25 and Gunderson is 72-15 at the helm of the program.

 

The Iron Horses were scheduled to begin Region 6-AA action on March 11 against Woodland High School and were slated to play Summerville High on March 14.

 

PSHS GIRLS SOCCER 

Meanwhile, the Iron Horse girls team entered this week’s action with a 2-3-1 record after being ranked No. 2 in Class AAA in the South Carolina Athletic Coaches Association’s preseason poll.

 

The Iron Horses have a young team and have played a challenging schedule against schools that compete at Class AAAA and AAAAA.

 

The Iron Horses posted a 13-9-1 record last spring, finishing in second place in Region 8-AAA. But this year’s squad is young once again, with 10 sophomores and five underclassmen.

 

Jeffrey Collins was named the third coach in four years to begin ’24 and has brought stability to the program.

 

Haley Franko set school records last season when she scored 27 goals and tallied 18 assists as a freshman. She’s off to a good start, recording three of the team’s six goals in six games.

 

Classmate Emmi Skipper has collected two goals and two assists, while freshman Hunter Thaxton has the Iron Horses’ other goal.