MATTHEWS - Imagine kicking around a frozen ball in the dead of winter.
Soccer began at Christ School in the middle of the 1947-48 school year. About 30 boys wore long-sleeved, Rugby-style shirts for warmth as part of their game uniforms.
Seventy-eight years have passed since a chilly, first foray into the sport, and the 2025 Greenies are now immortalized, too – forever known as Christ School’s first state championship team.
With his knack for finishing, Costa Barlas ’26 scored twice in the first 13 minutes of Saturday afternoon’s NCISAA 4-A state finals at Covenant Day. The Greenies then locked down their defense for the last 33 minutes and 21 seconds of a 2-1 win after conceding just their sixth goal of the season.
“Honestly, they made us earn it which is great, but we knew we could win,” said Coach Guy Campbell ’00, a former three-time all-conference player in his own right who has guided the team to 174 victories since 2010.
“To finally get it done, get it over with is a little surreal. There’s been a couple moments where I see former players or families and it brings back a lot of emotions back from previous years, the heartache. I’m just trying to take it all in and I’m just so happy for our guys and our community.”
Wyatt Campbell ‘27 and Taz Kasambara ‘26 sent the long balls from the midfield that led to Costa’s goals at the 5:29 and 12:33 marks of the first half, respectively. In each case, the senior from Asheville was patient to not draw an offsides call. His first goal was a shot taken with defenders from the Lions (15-5-1) on each side of Costa.
Goalkeeper Felix Huebner ’26 was aggressive with his challenges as the game wound down.
His legacy and the rest of the team’s seniors – a combined record of 30-4 the past two years with a 20-1 record this season, back-to-back undefeated runs through the Carolinas Athletic Association, a school record 19-game winning streak that continued Saturday, and most importantly, the state championship.
The only loss in this otherwise perfect season was at home to Covenant Day on August 14 – a scoreless game that came down to penalty kicks without Felix in the lineup. MaxPreps had the Greenies ranked No. 8 nationally as of Sunday.
“It’s incredible, I’m speechless,” Costa said.
“We have an amazing back line and an even better goalie, so congrats to them. They’ve been amazing this year. Even though we lost earlier in the season, we knew we were the better team if we took care of business today and I thought we did that well.”