Huntingdon's Terry to play in NPSL national semifinals

SAN DIEGO – When Huntingdon soccer standout Stacy Terry joined the Madison 56ers this summer, his main goal was to develop into a stronger player. There has been a lot of hard work the past few months, but it's been a successful summer for the rising Huntingdon senior.

Playing in the National Premier Soccer League and facing an elite level of college and amateur players, Terry has developed into a key player for Madison. At the end of the regular season, Terry was tied for third in scoring in the Midwest Central Conference.

This weekend, Terry's 56ers are in San Diego for the NPSL semifinals.

"This is truly a wonderful opportunity for Stacy and an opportunity for the Huntingdon men's soccer program to showcase one of our most talented players in a championship environment," first-year Huntingdon coach Timmy McCormack said. "The level at which he is competing represents a great chance in itself to improve as a player. But it's also the success he and his teammates have experienced this summer that has truly made this a once in a lifetime experience for Stacy.

"We will be avidly following his Final Four run online this weekend and hope that he comes away with a championship."

The 56ers (15-6) play FC Sonic (12-2-1) at 5 p.m. CST on Friday in the NPSL semifinals at Del Norte High School in San Diego. The winner advances to the championship on Sunday at 2 p.m. against either Chattanooga FC (7-2-3) or the Bay Area Ambassadors (12-5-3). Chattanooga and Bay Area play at 9 p.m. on Friday.

The games will be streamed live at http://www.sdspsoccermarketing.com/

Madison won the Midwest Central Conference regular season title with a 4-2 win over the Milwaukee Bavarians and won the Midwest Region championship 2-1 over AFC Cleveland to advance to the semifinals. This is the 56ers' second trip to the semifinals in three seasons and the fourth overall. A win would put Madison in the finals for the first time.

"Making it to the NPSL Final Four is confirmation that our hard work is slowly but surely paying off," Terry said. "I never thought I would be in this position, but I thank God for every opportunity that I am being presented with. We are excited about making it to San Diego, but the title hasn't been won yet. We are two games away, and the 56ers are completely focused."

As a junior, Terry played a key role in helping Huntingdon rebound from a 0-8-2 start to win five of its final nine games and reach the Great South Athletic Conference championship game.

"I'm looking forward to bringing back everything I have learned this summer to help Huntingdon have a great season and help our younger players make the future of Huntingdon soccer even stronger," Terry said.