Toast of the Coast boys soccer | Glodack takes lead for Carolina Forest

Chris Glodack's senior season may sound like a fairy tale straight out of Hollywood, but it's a real-life story at Carolina Forest.

The script: A star soccer player moves to a new school for his senior year and helps the traditionally average program reach new heights.

That's the plot for Glodack, who left the prestigious IMG Soccer Academy boarding school in Bradenton, Fla., to live with his mom for a year before heading off to college at Clemson University on a soccer scholarship. The move was one he and the Panthers will never forget.

"At IMG I basically went to class for three hours and spent the rest of the day training, so I wanted to be like a normal kid my senior year," Glodack said. "My mom tried to prepare me [for a lower level of soccer] because she knows I'm a competitor, but I didn't listen.

"I started working out with my teammates and they welcomed me in. They saw that I wanted to win just as badly as they did. They saw that if I yelled at them or offered advice I was just trying to help, that I wasn't all talk, and that I could play at a pretty consistent level."

Forgive the understatement, but Glodack isn't one to boast on himself. But Carolina Forest coach Will Hall will gladly do it for him.

"A lot of times when a kid comes from that kind of background they get frustrated by playing at a lower level, but Chris never complained," Hall said. "He did all the drills, helped his teammates and wasn't the least bit selfish. We made him a captain, and he was a real leader."

Both statistically and spiritually.

The goalkeeper posted nine shutouts and had 105 saves, allowing only 13 goals all year in leading the Panthers to a school-best 17-3-1 record and their first trip to the Lower State final. He also scored eight goals and dished out three assists in only 108 minutes on the field en route to being named The Sun News' Boys Soccer Player of the Year.

"What makes Chris so good is he is such a versatile player," Hall said. "I could put him in goal and get a shutout, or move him to almost any position and he could help us score. But the biggest thing was his leadership. He was all about the team and helped make everyone better."

There was no Hollywood ending for Glodack and the Panthers, who fell in the Lower State finals after he was injured on a sloppy field. But his story is far from over, as he leaves for Clemson next week to get a head start on writing the next chapter of his soccer career.

"Soccer is what I have always wanted to do, and I'm excited about going off to Clemson," he said. "But I'll never forget my senior year here. It was a great experience."