Try here: FM v. Lex game report

Much appreciated, deahler! Thanks!

Sounds like a great game between evenly matched teams. Congratulations to the Wild Cats and best of luck on Tuesday.

I went to the Lexington/Fort Mill game if all girls games were like this one I want to go to more girls games.

Even though the referees were horrible. There were linemen that would not keep up with the play and all the referees paid more attention to the crowd and girls on the field to decide what call to make than they did their own eyes. Referees were also random.

Crowd was awesome. Lexington boys team was there without shirts on and with numbers and names of each girl painted on their back and they made a lot of noise. We had kinda-streakers G rated run the field at half-time. Many people were there and made a lot of noise. Fort Mill had a lot of people there and they made a lot of noise too.

Lexington went up 1-0 after Kira Campbell got control of a loose ball and drove through a bunch of players to the right in the box and drew a bunch of players and the keeper and did a beautiful pass to Kelly Maupin who nailed a one-touch 5-yarder into the open goal. Fort Mill tied the game after yet-another penalty was called on Lexington and Fort Mill did a really great free kick (I think #11) and they got a combination play behind the defense and I'm not srue who scored. It was a fantastic touch lofted shot jsut over Erica Deahl's outstretched hands.

No one else scored in regulation or in the first overtime. In the second overtime Campbell took the ball at midfield and outran/faked/drove to the 25 and made a perfect pass to Allie Johns. The defenders and keeper were all focused on Campbell and Johns blasted a shot into the open net.

Both teams had strong field defenses Fort Mills was probably stronger after Lexington lost a player to injury but Erica Deahl at keeper was a big difference. Sam Decker was very good and flew around on defense breaking things up and missed something like 10-15 minutes from injury. Allie Steele when she was playing is very tough. Lexingtons forwards had problem with the pressure Fort Mills defense put on them and they way to often lost the ball there but Maupin did a lot of pressure to Fort Mill all night and I thought she did good. Fort Mill also had advantage at wing play but Lexington was much stronger in the mddle.

Overall Lexington was a little stronger in the first half but Fort Mill was a little stronger in the second half. Overtimes were back and forth a lot.

Fort Mill had two players that did specially well for it #11 and #4 (I was told this was Danielle Schmidt and Ashleigh Sheets.) #11 at forward didn't get a ton of touches because of Lexingtons defense but she did well with the touches she got and made a couple of our defenders look bad sometimes. #4 looked as good in the midfield as you can against what she had to face. In the second half they switched them to #11 at midfield and #4 up top and #11 beat our defensive middle/back when she had the ball at her feet. #11 is a really good player.

Campbell is a hulkin freakin beast. She destroyed the midfield, won balls everywhere, broke up a ton of Fort Mill offense, and started 2 tons of offense. Every time she touched the ball she had like 3 players or more on her and still she couldn't be stopped. She is sick nasty.

Glad to see Irmo and Lexington advance along with Chapin and B-C. Good job by the Midlands teams.

Dreher, congrats on a great run!

As a side note, Hurst66 must be drowning his sorrows in Tega Cay or out combing the U13 games!

Riverside-J.L.Mann----Any reports

Can't find a dern thing in the online newspapers this am....

thanks!

Riverside - Mann: Sat. night 5/6 at 5:30pm at Riverside. Postponed last night because of field condition.

Thanks! I guess that would explain why- huh?

FM/Lexington game was a great game. Referees were terrible but I guess that is expected. Lexington's Defense is not as impressive as everyone had said, but their goalie is amazing, probably the best I have seen. FM had numerous opportunities but missfortune combined with bad refs didn't allow them to finish. Lexington had several opps. as well. Great game on both sides. See ya next year, hopefully at Ft. Mill.

Bishop England 2
Barnwell 0

1-0 at half. rain delay for about 10 or 15 mins. 2-0 final

the dreher game was closer than the score indicates, chapin got two late and the blue devils almost got a goal late rolled around right in front. that was really indicative of the whole game, things just didnt go their way. tough loss. congratulations to the seniors on a good season.

i do want to say the quality of reffing in this game was not very good for a playoff game. i dont believe it affected the outcome but there were some inconsistent foul calls and the side judge on the dreher side seemed lost at times. thought i saw an uncalled handball in the box on a dreher free kick too.

en dash,

It's too bad we only get to see one or two games a year of this caliber in girls' high school soccer!

Try and step out of "Campbell-vision" and into the real world though. In an attempt to be fair to the rest of the Lexington players and Fort Mill, here is what the rest of the spectators saw in the midfield.

Fort Mill's midfield (numbers 3 and 4, sometimes 11, I believe) was very effective against the Wildcats' midfield. Their #4 won most 50-50 balls and seemed to take the ball wherever she wanted, leaving Lex's midfield scrambling. FM's #3 was gutsy and aggressive. She must have had trouble with cramps or something because she had to be carried off the field a couple of times. Kira blended with the rest of the talent on the team and didn't really stand out until the 98th minute. Even then, FM had most of its players up top on offense and she was largely uncontested. Not taking a thing away from #9's talent, I just think those who were not able to see the game deserve to hear it was Lexington's unified field team strength and great saves by the goalie that prevailed last night, not some "hulkin freakin beast."

p.s. Indeed, the referees were horrible

I agree Buzz
Lexington had a ton of talent on the field as well as Fort Mill. #8 from FM left her defense position to play forward and scored the goal. Lexington's goalie was great.

As far as the referees - they were the worst I have seen in 14 years of soccer. What a shame for a game of that importance

anonymousjoe/buzzmere/FM Fan/and the rest of the Fort Mill nation: I was a spectator sitting with a bunch of others and I don't think any of us had...well, precisely your perspective on the game. It's amazing that the two teams had roughly the same number of shots on goal and yet FM was so dominant. I agree that Lexington's keeper is fantastic -- but give your own keepers some credit -- both of them did a great job and on both goals had to leave a portion of the net open to cover the player with the ball -- the shots were great -- not in my opinion either of your keeper's fault.

Best of luck to Fort Mill and your daughters in the future.

Last nights game between Lexington and FM was the best girls game I have seen since last years State Cup final between FM and WA. FM is indeed a great team and never quit and kept constant "pressure" (that for you r4sc)on Lexington.
As everyone else has stated the refs were just unbelievably terrible. Its a shame that in a game of this magnitude that even though they had 3 refs out there, none of them took control of the game or made consistant calls.
Again, kudo's to FM by far the best team Lexington has played this year. See you next year I'm sure....

All this hugging and sportsmanship makes me wish Dorman had some supporters on the boards. Come on, Jo. Where's the love?

I can't think of a time that I would rather my player stand out than maybe the 98th minute, when the game is on the line. That's what champions do, rise to the occasion. Congratulations to Kira Campbell for making a difference to her team when it mattered most!! I wasn't there but it sounds like it was a tremendous game and that a lot of great girls' high school soccer was played. Congratulations to both teams on a great game and especially to Lexington, who prevailed on this occasion.

Whiskey & Easy: I found this quote in the newspaper by the TL Hanna coach referring to Dorman to be fascinating...

"He's the best coach in the state and they are the best team."

Isn't it a little early to move Dorman to #1? Shouldn't you wait until they beat Lexington and the lower state champion?

sbs: Just to make it clear, while Kira Campbell had the two assists (the first I guess while "sitting in" rather than "standing out" ) Kelly Maupin and Allie Johns were the two scorers and did a fantastic job with their runs and their shots. And the last score was set up by an Erica Deahl punt to midfield that Lexington was fortunate enough to win. And that's not even beginning to mention all of the incredible contributions by other players. I just wanted to make sure that isn't lost in all of this.

Fort Mill was very well coached and played together very well as a team. Lexington continues to be very young...

W&E: do I detect "sour grapes"??

Well Said Chico!!

This was an exciting game to watch, and I'm thinking that there are a lot of teams (boys included) who would like to have some goalies of this caliber on the field next year. I will admit that I thought that this was going to come down to conditioning and that FM had the advantage. Too many Lexington players were not making their runs late in the game, and I thought that the Fort had it. They controlled the midfield for much of the second half and for most of the two OTs. Lexington dug deep and came up with a clutch strike when they needed it and they live to play another day.

Side note:
The referees missed calls both ways, but these are two tough, physical teams that know how to 'walk the line'and move on quickly. No one one the field shied away from contact, and I think that the refs 'let them play' attitude got a little out of control at some points, but that is better than too quick a whistle. There were some bad 'no calls' on offsides ect. but nothing that changed the outcome of the game (in my eyes). I wouldn't recommend this group of refs for the State Finals but they don't desrve to burn in hell either.

It was funny to hear the Lexington Boys side finally getting a chance to "speak" to the refs. I hope they don't pull this same crew in their next game.

Hey Book

#9 didn't have 3 players on her all the time - in fact she was only covered by 1 player (#3) and was backed up by FM's awsome defense. FM's coach is great and would never let them triple team one player. That's not how they are coached.

The refs were so bad I believe that the line man on FM side was colored blind. I got sea sick watching him switch his flag back and forth because he couldn't decide. They shouldn't have to burn in hell but they should go back to rec

Chico & Co.

When losing in the playoffs, it is wise to promote your enemy in hopes that it will in return make you look better. What I do fid funny is that you two have held your tongues all season long an only have spoken when Lexington's success was achieved. I dub you Fair Weather Johnsons and implore you to sport your "Y" chormosome during the regular season like the rest of us.

(Still a little bitter from the loss. This will wear off, I'm sure.)

don't know final score, but Riverside beat Mann

Hey FM, you sure do talk about Fort Mill as being great alot, I wonder why. I mean seriously listen to yourself go on about the coach, the defence, etc., etc.

I also didn't notice that Kira had 3 people on her all night long. I think it was more of the fact that she is all over the midfield trying to make a play thus she went from one opposing player to another. I hope some coach is foolish enough to put 3 players on her, because that means 2 of our other players are open.

W&E: I expect you are addressing me with your last comment, and I can understand your effort in building up the team that beat you which in turn make your team look better.
I don't want to get on here and brag and say we are going to do this or do that because it just might not happen, and I don't want to have to "eat my words". I guess my supply of "Y" chormosomes is fading as the years add on, sorry to disappoint you.

No disappointment. I'd rather you wait until the end to speak up than annoy the board all year long with post. I really do root for Lexington during the regular season, especially after having the opportunity to meet THE deahler. If Lex town takes down the Cavs (it looks like a possibility), I'll be the happiest person outside of midstate.

Exactly!!

LF Thanks - that is just why she wasn't triple teamed. We would be crazy to do that against a team with so much talent.

Usless Book - I have been a FM fan for a few years and happen to think the FM girls are great on and off the field. There are usually 3-4 at my house everyday. They are a close knit group that always have fun together. THey are also very smart. So boo me if you want but I will always support the Lady Jackets. And yes my daughter is #8 and I am very proud of her.

Whiskey & Easy: I'm pretty uncomfortable with posting very much about specifics in the girls high school thread; that's why I do it relatively little. Other than posting a score (no opinions) when no one else has, I try not to. What tends to engage me is when someone writes something that I perceive could be taken as derogatory and/or unfair toward any player or group of players.

I'm well aware that parents and players (and even sometimes coaches!) have a tendency to be biased. However, it is beyond me why people feel that putting down one wonderful player or group of players is the best way to make their particular favorite wonderful player or players look better. To me, it just makes them look mean-spirited and petty and often times in denial. Some folks, and some groups of folks, are worse than others about this.

In this particular message topic, it seems to me that there's been a lot of this, often to the point of absurdity. Lexington's defense not impressive? They held a very strong #1 ranked team in the state to a single goal and held that team to an approximately equal number of shots on goal -- all while two defensive starters were knocked out of the game. A player with two go-ahead assists in two periods in a 2-1 game doesn't stand out until the end? You have to wonder how many assists and/or goals would do it. I'm sure there are many more examples...

I'll be away from computers for the rest of the day (thank goodness!), but in closing want to again congratulate Fort Mill on a wonderful season. This group is a very well-coached team with many good players.

My goodness, relax! No one was put down and no one was elevated, at least not intentionally. If you read it that way, I'm sorry. My attempt was to redirect attention away from en-dash's hype of one player (see his final paragraph) and onto the many others who contributed significantly in the game. I could list players and how each was impressive, but that would defeat the whole purpose, wouldn't it?

If a team wants to win against Lex, they must focus their game plan on handling the whole field of players, not just one. I know I'm preaching to the choir here, but I'll say it anyway. This game is never won or lost by one player. 11 players (more if you include subs) on both sides get 80-100 minutes to make something happen TOGETHER. If they do, they win; if they don't, they lose. Whether a win or a loss, the outcome is the result of the collective effort. Postings on another thread have already established that a team with one outstanding player can't advance unless the team has additional talent.

Good luck Lexington! You definitely have what it takes to win it all.

lf why do you keep dragging me into this cause i already siad i was wrong & lex was good.i went on friday & it was a good game 4 both & i thought lex played good & gr8 athletes & i thought #11 for fm was very good in 2nd 1/2 & #9 for lex dominated most of game but its not the 1st time like i said shell probaby quit like bigbe did.think how good lex could have been w bigbe & #9 lex could have won by 2 more & no ot

r4sc... Bigbie graduated early...not quit soccer.

heard she graduated early cause she hated the coach usc is lucky to have her next year

kinda like the m wetzel thing here in aiken but wetzel didnt grad early

FMFAN is correct, she never had three players on her. EVER. As far as the refs determining the outcome, its very likely they did. #14 a defender dribbled the ball up field to about the 18, she had a perfect shot on goal. EXCEPT for one major problem. The defender jumped up after she shot the ball, hands in the air, and deflected it with her left arm. Could have been the winning goal, should have been a PK for hand ball in the box. It wasn't called, so yes i would argue that there were some calls, that affected the outcome. But I have the video if anyone is still curious about the TRIPLE COVERAGE of Ms. Campbell. One of FM's top players graduated early to attend clemson. So we are all in that boat.

Hey Joe, the calls weren't only against you buddy. Lexington had some HORRIBLE ones not called.

I understand that, but I believe it was (Who? me) that said the officiating didn't have an affect on the outcome (to his or her knowledge), and I was implying just one example how it could have very easily affected the outcome.

I agree with you Buzzmere. Sorry about the high tension that may or may not have been caused by me.

Good to see Irmo, Lexington, Brookland-Cayce, and Chapin in the girls semifinals again. We are at least guaranteed some Midlands soccer representation in the finals at USC.

Hey Joe I agree - how about when they called half time while we were setting up for a corner kick. I have never heard of ending a half before a penalty is kicked.

I don't thnik I've ever seen so many poor losers as are posting nwo for FM. OK, FM dominated. Teh refs gvae teh game to Lex. Nobody on the wildcats team really stood out. We would hvae been better but...

The facts are just being stated, nothing is being taken away from lexington. It was probably the best match of the year, everyone, FM AND LEXINGTON, are simply agreeing that the officiating was very poor for both sides. Some of those calls could have affected the outcome, clear hand ball in the box, calling half time before a corner, simply poor officiating for a third round playoff game. No one is taking anything away from Lexington and no one ever said they didn't deserve it. Hopefully we will have the priveledge to play each other again next year. Good Luck lexington, I don't believe you all will have any trouble against Dorman, wish you all the best.

wah, wah, wah.

Pilgrim: Please note that only two posters fall into that category, and the silent majority of us FM folks have to accept the summary of the game: Lex 2, FM 1, Whatifs 0

Mr.FM6,

It only taeks two whiners to give teh whole fan base a black eye. tell tehm to be quiet and wait for next year.

Great game Friday night, I just got the opportunity to read the above posts.

Refs...give them a break. We have been harping on this subject all year. They did not effect the outcome of this game. Maybe they missed some calls, but it went both ways. The team that scored the goal in OT, the better team Friday night, won. Congrats Lex, life goes on for FM.

Deahler, LF, Chico and all Lex fans. Whiskey & Easy has a point. The spring season on the boards would have been a lot more fun if you guys would have engaged in lively conversation earlier in the season. You have a great team, you obviously let the "girls do the talking on the field". It would have been fun to have heard from you more earlier this year, we know you were out there lurking ;>)

Chico, it is possible to engage in conversation without shamelessly promoting your favorite girl or your favorite team. I understand what you are saying and I think I have managed to engage in adult conversation without sounding petulant, juvenile or whiney. When the Club Forum starting going "down hill", regarding all the SCYSA crap, i wish you would have jumped over here. I value your contribution. Please don't wait so long next year because I know Lex will be back.

As for the game.......

After a 45-minute rain delay, Lex came out like a house of fire and beat FM to every ball. They played clean and physical and controlled play. FM weathered the storm and settled in a bit but the first half edge clearly went to Lex. Lex's first goal originated from a less-than-stellar goal kick. The Wildcats knocked it back into FM's box and after a series of flails and knockarounds, it's in the back of the net. Not pretty, but well-deserved.

The highlight of my night occurred toward the end of halftime, when deahler and Chico ran onto the field in their skivvies. I'll tell you, deahler can really shake it like a polaroid picture!

Second half started like the first. Lex did a tremendous job of not giving the FM players any space. Ashleigh Sheets (4) and Danielle Schmitt (11) fought hard but both the Lex midfield and defense gave these players no time. With about 20 - 25 minutes to play, Coach Finnerty moves Rachel Datz (8) from center defense to center midfield. Subsequently, FM starts getting the better of play. FM earns a free kick from about 40 yards out and the ball is played into the box to Schmitt's feet. She has no room and the ball is knocked out to Datz who is around the corner of the 18. Datz lofts a nice little left-footed curler barely over (or off) Erica Deahl's fingertips, the ball hits the bottom of the crossbar and goes in. 1-1.

FM has the momentum and we have about 15 minutes to go. FM has worked very hard for the equalizer and Coach Finnerty drops Datz back into the center of the defense. The last 10 minutes of regulation, in my opinion, were the most critical of the match. Suprisingly, for the first time all night, FM has space. I think Lex spent a tremendous amount of energy playing high pressure for 70 minutes...and now they appear either conservative, or a little winded. FM has time on the ball that they hadn't seen all night. Sheets gets sent free down the right side and she is bearing down on the Lex goal at a tight angle. Sheets has the hardest shot on the FM team and Deahl is poised to defend the goal. Instead of pulling the trigger, Sheets slides the ball across the face of the goal to an open Cathryn Wilson (17) who is set to end the match. 95% of the goalkeepers that I have seen this year would not have done what the Lex keeper did. Deahl anticipated correctly and snuffed out the short cross with a fine sliding save. This to me, was the key moment in the match. Deahl doesn't make that stop, it's game over. We never see OT. Lex didn't have the energy at that point.

First OT, FM might have had a slight edge. Strange that it was blown dead when FM was setting up for a corner. Second OT, even until the 8th minute. After a long shot from Lexi Wilden (7), Deahl's punt is taken by Campbell who does a tremendous job of getting the edge on the FM defender and sending a perfectly timed ball through the split-defense to Johns. Johns makes a great run and one-times the ball past the charging FM keeper.

Great goal....easily the best FM yielded all season. I walked out of the stadium disappointed, but not upset. FM played well and they lost to a very good team on a great goal. Nothing to be ashamed about. I'm glad I refrained from yelling and screaming at the refs and I took the time to actually sit back and appreciate the quality match I was watching. I went home without feeling angry and I thought I really got my $5 worth.

Good luck Lex, I'm pulling for you guys to represent the upperstate well. (and if Dorman wins the upperstate....go Dorman!).

Hurst66: I thought FM06's comments were good -- it's not all of the FM fans just like it's not all the Lexington fans.

I think it's incredibly hard to write an unbiased game recap if you're a fan of one of the teams playing; it's why I don't do it. In fact, I don't write about teams much at all. Since the HS stuff is mostly about teams, that pretty severely limits me.

Thought your recap was good from an FM perspective (that's not a criticism -- in a game with 14-14 shots on goal and a lot of important plays you're going to remember those that meant the most for your team.) Only comment -- and this in defense of your first-half keeper -- on the first goal the ball was kicked around in the box until one player got it, drove it to the right drawing defenders and the keeper to her, and passed it for a very nice one touch shot by Lexington's Kelly Maupin. As I said, I think the first-half FM keeper played very, very well and I don't think that play detracts from her at all -- I heard it was only the second goal she's allowed all season.

Chico, you had a better view than I did. I guess the actual finish was nice, but the ball was getting knocked around a bit. My down-playing of that goal was probably a bad effort on my part to over-emphasize how good the OT game winner was. Didn't mean to slight the goalscorer of the first one....just didn't think it was near the quality of the second.

FM keepers did a fine job all season. Couldn't fault either one of them for either goal on Friday night.

Hurst, I can't believe you were able to tell that was Dealer and Chico out there providing the half time entertainment. Very Good!!

If that were a trio instead of just a duo, you would have been "outed" as well, LF. ;>)

Congrats!

Hurst66: I think it always comes down to perspective -- both physically and emotionally.

My favorite plays outside of goals are watching players win air balls and ball moves where the player with the ball makes one or more defenders actually fall down (break their ankles in basketball parlance), get through, and make a great pass. I saw several of these the other night...but I'm sure others with different perspectives were watching other things or just see things differently. I don't trust that my perspective is "correct"; therefore I don't talk much about teams. Maybe in the next few years I'll gain the courage to do so.

LF/Hurst: I wish I were that young, agile, and thin. Now, it could have been deahler and LF. All of the Lexington boys did an outstanding job supporting the girls.

By the way -- in all of the names of girls from both teams that have been raised on this thread -- I thought that I'd throw in the opinion that Emily Adams, the central defender for Lexington, did a good job.

The police officer did an excellent job of heading those topless Lex boys off at the pass after the first Wildcat goal. They were on their way over to the FM side to "get some".

As yet another by the way -- one of the Lexington players told me that Coach Finnerty made a special effort to single her out and tell her what a great game she had immediately after the game -- this after what had to be an emotionally tough and draining game for him -- she was really impressed. For me, it just cemented all of the great things I've heard about Fort Mill's coach over the years.

Chapin had the better night obviously, and did a great job at staying focused. Two early goals and then an offsides goal not being called seemed to knocked the confidence out of some of the DHS players. The score didn't do the game justice. Life lessons on the field.

Wow, now we are apparently whiners FMFAN, yet, its funny how, and I assume - is from Lexington, but - (A Lexington fan) made the original comment about the poor officiating, and I was agreeing with it, THATS ALL, agreeing with the lexington fan. I'm not whining, I could care less about the outcome of the game, I wasn't even at the game, I’m just here to correct people, such as when it was mentioned that Kira had 3 people covering her at all times, I politely commented that she was never triple teamed, I clear up AMBIGUOUS facts, I don’t whine. What I do know is that when I sat down and watched the VIDEO, I was amazed at the poor calls, FOR LEXINGTON AND FM, another key point mentioned earlier for the illiterate ones like Pilgrim. So, just notes to all soccer fans, if you are on the losing end, don’t comment about the poor officiating, or else you will apparently be considered a WHINNER WAH WAH WAH. Be sure to stop by the post called, "PLAYOFF REFFERING" and call all of them WHINERS because they are complaining about bad refing as well.

Mr ajoe --

Yuo, sir are a whiner. Complaining abuot bad refs is one thing. Listing specific bad calls taht yuo claim gave teh game away is whining. WAH, WAH, WAH. Go suck a lemon.

ps: I am not illiterate, I haev dyslexia. Don't maek fun of my handicap you jrek.

So now i have made fun of your handicap as well, OH LORD, FORGIVE ME. I am now a whiner and prejudice, anything else. Like I said, I only pointed out one call. If you would like to know some specific terrible calls for lexington, i can certainly make those available. Perhaps when #11 ran into the goalie, should have probably been a card, would have taken one of the best players off the field for a few moments. I was only stating one example. When you state a fact it is always nice to have a good example to justify your reasoning. Correct...

WAH.

Hey AJoe,

That's OK we will have all of next year to whine. Maybe I will bring the chesse and crackers. See you in the stands this fall.

That makes two years (now) of off seasons for FM for whining, cheese and crackers. Better check your cholesterol. And make sure you bring a fine whine.

What, everyone has an off season, whats your point.

Such a fine whine.

2005 had such a rich flavor to it's whine...and the color was beautiful.

You know what Pilgrim, you are surpassing the point of annoyance now. And what horrific typing, take a typing class man! It seems like AnonymousJoe and FMfan aren't whining, they just are bringing up great points. SO SHUT YOUR MOUTH!

PS: Are you a lexington fan, cause you sure keep on talking about that game!