D. Fork battles the Valley on thursday (at D.F.) I predict a region 5 upset- SV 1-0 over DF. What do you guys think? Mainly, what does BenP think?

hmm...I like Spring Valley's odds, however, Dutch Fork successfully stopped Irmo's high powered offense despite not possessing the ball nearly as much. Danny being back (correct me if he won't be) will make a big difference and might give Dutch Fork the edge they need to start putting more points on the board than their opponents. (He played against BC and they put up two, didn't play against Irmo and they were scoreless). I predict Spring Valley outplays them, but Dutch Fork wins another game in pks 1-1.

im gonna go with an OT goal by Spring Valley...2-1

This game is Friday, March 17th at DF.

I am gonna have to go with the odds here and say:

DF-2
SV-1

Dutch Fork scores one off a corner kick.

Spring Valley 3 Dutch Fork 1
Great Matchup - DF has won all 5 games of their games this season in overtime and 4 in penalty kicks, and I think their luck has run out on those...just think if they lost all of those games in pks

Good point, they are this -> [] close to being not ranked with an 0-6 record.

Well Cates may not be back... it is still up in the air as to whether or not the trainer clears him. If Cates is not back then it should be an extremely close match with the outcome going either way by just a goal. If Cates does play then I see DF by 2 goals. Cates may not score them but will have a definate hand in both of them. Cates just creates a match up problem for all defenses since they can't just stop him and leave the other dynamic forwards to run free.

W/O Cates : SV 2-1 in OT
W CATES : DF 2-0

Speaking about them being close to being 0-6, Cates has only played 1 match... so look for him to be ready to play and ready to make a difference when he does get to get in the game.

DF has alot of games that week look for SV to capitolize on a fatigued DF--

DF-1
SV-2

DF-2
SV-2

DF wins in PKs again

lowerstateluver, only really 2 games, the game tomorrow against Lower Richland doesn't really count. The game will probably actually be easier than a practice.

Spring Valley plays Ridge View this on Tuesday as well.

benp, when are you coming out with the top 25 again? And what are your rankings for 4A?

the sv-df matchup will be one of the first real definitive matches as to who will vie for the lower state championship, SV is #9 and DF is #1. What havoc it will cause in the rankings if DF comes up short in this game...

Really, the rankings don't matter. The only thing that matters is the number of games you win in region. Being in the top 5 and top 10 and just being ranked is nice but when it comes down to it, it is just about how many region games you win. This game isn't good because of the rankings of these 2 teams. This game is going to be good because of the quality players that both teams have.

I didn't say it was going to be good cause of their rank and it is obvious they both have quality players. 90% of the talk on this website is about whos ranked higher than who. what I am saying is it will be one of the first games to help make the rankings believable, I agree that the rankings dont mean much-until atleast mid way through the season

SV3 - DF1. SV is the better team top to bottom.

SV 2 DF 1. This game will show that Dutch Fork is good, but not the number one team in the state and it will show that Spring Valley is underated.

i wouldnt necessarily say that spring valley is underrated. they get a good amount of talk around the state, and they deserve it. i guess they are a little low on rankings, but one loss this early in the season would kill any team as far as rankings go.

upperninedee, who would you say is the #1 team in the state? just curious since you seem to know who isn't the #1 team.

Tigerman- To tell you the truth I don't think there is a dominant team in 4A...its a toss up between Wando, Northwestern, Spring Valley(they are a really good team and they will surprise people), and Dutch Fork even though they aren't number one they are still in the top 4. But like I said I don't think their is one dominant team.

oh ok... I thought you were just saying that they weren't number 1 because there was a much more dominant team... but I do agree that there isn't a clear cut #1 right now, but there is a craps shoot at the top for the state title.

Last year when these two teams played DF dominated SV at SV. Later in the season the two matched up again on DF's turf. SV comes from behind and scores 3 goals in 10 minutes to upset DF. As for the talk about cates...one player is not as important as you all think, someone even gave DF a 2-0 prediction if cates plays and a 2-1 prediction in favor of SV if cates doesnt play. SV has shut down all these powerhouse forwards and look for them to do the same with cates. Cates will not be a factor, especially with SV's defense and goalkeeping. Look at the stats, they've held it down in the back.

However, if you shut him down, then that will open up other areas. I don't think he's a 3 goal difference maker, but even if you shut him down, if he plays, DF has a much better chance.

sv scored 3 goals in 10 minutes? I agree with crimson that one player is not all important, and btw, I never heard much talk of cates last year...

I remember hearing a good bit about him, he was always talked about as the best freshman that year. And I believe he had quite a few goals.

Cates was hurt for the last 6 games of the season last year and then for most of the play-offs. However, he did have 16 goals through 10 games last year as a freshman and missed All-State by 1 vote. If he would have made the team he would have been the first ever freshman to make the All-State team in 4A. I didn't really give him a 3 goal difference, what I was saying between the 2-1 SV and the 2-0 DF is that with him on the field he will take the pressure on the defense and DF will get more chances thus creating another goal and therefore SV will have fewer chances resulting in no goals with DF's defense. I think that benp understands what I am saying about him not necessarily being the one to score but you have to mark him which opens up Goulet, Martin, and Hite to become more dangerous.

Dutch Fork may be proud of last year's 'freshman that almost made all-state' but their are players on Spring Valley that have played with cates, especially the underclassmen. Cates will be one to watch, but I would also keep an eye on Sean Flynn, and Zack Houghton. Spring Valley's defense shut down possibly, the best forward in 4-A, Kyle Hughes of RV. Hughes couldnt get a step on SV and I expect the same problem for cates. No matter who wins...it will be the Region 5 match of the year. Good Luck.

Here is a question for you guys...I am not being mean or anything else, but how can a player like Cates be considered dominant and be injured so much? Has he always been injury prone, or is it from playing too much and abusing his body? Is this common for him to be injured? I think that if he is having this many problems at the high school level, very few colleges would want to waste a D1 full ride scholarship if he was going to be injured all the time. Just a thought.....

tigerman, how do you know so much about DF and Cates? just wondering.. you follow them closely? tony cates maybe?

tigerman is his dad if Im not mistaken

You would be very mistaken. I am his dad and I am not tigerman. Sorry Superstar.

I thought you were his brother

None of the players on here or most of the ex-players for that matter use their own name on this message board. It's much easier to talk trash under an alias. I can assure you that I am Danny's father and not his brother.

Crimson... Kyle Hughes the best forward in 4A???? WOW.... I must not have seen him at his best then, because to me he is an average left footed straihgt ahead forward. Would not kick him of my team but he is not the best foward.

Regarding Danny, he is a sophomore, he is a good player and he is the dangerous man for DF. Therefore as with Kyle they would be the most marked men on the field. This is just common sense if you are the opponent.

One other quality of good player is versatility, Danny has played different positions with equal skill, as a matter of fact I believe he played in the back for the Region team.

Lastly Danny is a red head, and therefore very very unlikely that he is my son....

we play against kyle today at 5:45 p.m

Kyle Hughes was excellent against Fort Mill last night. A couple of fantastic runs with the ball (one in which he beat three defenders) both ended with great shots that just went wide.

Kyle needs a strong teammate that he can play off. He is not the type that can play with his back to goal. He will however kill you if he has someone up-top that can control the ball and put through balls.

I was asked to elaborate...

I think Ridgeview have the right players but not in the right places, in order to get Kyle the ball in good scoring chances the line up needs to be tweaked.

To be fair, I'd take hughes over cates any day, any time. He's much more dangerous, and he takes more chances with the ball, and thats the kind of forward i would want. Congrats to SV for upsetting the #1 team. The boys in the back continue to shut out their opponents. It's time people starting noticing SV's defense. And may I say... wow, 9 (or 10) games now in OT or PKs for DF.

I play Keeper for SV and I must say that Dutch Fork was a real class act. I was thrilled with the win, but the DF boys took it really well...Real class act guys. Hopefully I'll get the chance to play with some of these guys for CUFC (the new merge) this fall. Dutch Fork is legit, they played really well, but in the end, the ball just didnt go their way..(literally, wrong side of the post in pk's).

Great game.

I guess it's its only fitting that when Dutch Fork plays their best game of their season they get unlucky after playing not so well is previous games and somehow managing to pull it out. Anyone who saw that game can no longer say that Dutch Fork is not legit. It was a battle from start to finish with Spring Valley pulling it out in the end. Maybe it had something to do with playing the Flynn brothers on St. Patricks day.

The game was pretty equal with great scoring chances going to both teams. Both keepers made amazing saves on what seemed to be sure scoring opportunities. In the first half it seemed that DF would surely get a goal with many chances in the box and right outside the box... I think crimson will agree with this. Then in the second half the game became equal and there were 5 minute spans when both teams would have it in the others box and just barely miss the goal or hit a post. The overtime again was a switch of momentum as SV came out and dominated the first 5 minutes but then dodged a huge bullet in the second overtime when a DF player found themselves with the ball 5 yards behind the defense on the 6. I say found because the ball just happened to pop out to him and I think it surprised him more than anything. This game was too good to be finished in PK's.

After this game I think that SV and DF have distanced themselves from all other Lower state teams. They both played the best HS soccer I have seen this year. Neither booted the ball, all the chances came from building the attack up from the back. Very good soccer was played throughout the entire game. I guess it is only fitting for DF to lose their first game in Pks after playing by far their best game all year. SV would be the only team to know that DF is legit and they will need to be reckoned with for the rest of the year.