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| Bailey Sarp will graduate as the greatest goal scorer in school history. |
Bailey Sarp made his varsity debut on May 8, 2012. He was the top-scoring freshman midfielder on
JV who got the postseason call-up. In
the district semi-final game versus Lake Minneola, Sarp cranked in his first
and only varsity goal of the season. One
goal his freshman year, which makes what he would go on to accomplish all the
more impressive.
If Sarp’s career had begun any other year, who knows what
kind of career numbers he would have compiled as he most likely would have been
a top contributor on varsity from the get go.
However, the 2012 team was stacked with talent and left very little room
for freshmen to crack the roster. In
contrast, one could argue that Sarp’s time practicing with the talented seniors
of 2012 helped in his development.
Regardless, as his career draws to an end at WO, Sarp sits
atop the record book now with a career-best 179 goals, easily surpassing Nick
Poidomani’s previous record of 157. He
broke the record on what would have been his Senior Night in a game against
Metro Conference foe, Edgewater. Since
then, he’s been creating more distance between himself and any future Warrior’s
ascension to the top while exceeding the previous record for goals in a season
at the same time.
No one could have assumed heading into the 2013 season that
a sophomore midfielder would one day become the most prolific goal scorer in
school history. Nor could they have
guessed that Sarp would crack the back of the net 64 times that year; by far a
record for a WO midfielder. His
performance garnered him all-conference and district honors. His next step was to make the transition from
midfielder to attackman, providing more time on the field and more
opportunities to score.
Sarp, however, ran into some bad luck in the fall of his
junior year. His club season was cut
short when he broke his foot in the first practice of the off-season. He returned in December only to break his
other foot while playing in a tournament.
Subsequent surgery led to Sarp missing the entire 2014 preseason. As he gradually returned to full health, he
was used sporadically a couple of weeks into the season, not returning to play
fulltime until halfway through the year.
Despite the setback and lost time on the field, he still managed to turn
in a 41-goal performance bringing his career total within striking distance of
Poidomani’s newly set mark as he headed into his senior season.
To put Sarp’s career accomplishment into perspective, one
would have to average 45 goals a season over four years to break his current
mark. Sarp, however, reached his total
after only scoring one goal his freshman year and missing a number of games his
junior year. He will retire from WO with
his record out of reach of any current Warriors. Sarp will also be the only Warrior to notch
60+ goals twice in a career and one of only three players to surpass the 70+
goal mark in a season.
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