Clover vs. Ft. Mill

I'd also say that 4A has the advantage of 3A in terms of numbers. I guess Airport is THAT good. Yup, there good over there in Columbia. In fact, I'd go on record as saying the best in 3A. Heck, I'd even put it on a billboard that Airport will win state this year. Oh, I might even say that they potentially have the best team ever!!!

Sorry Ludwig,

Can't come, leaving on a trip at 3. But, please, a good game recap would be nice (hint, hint)!

As we all realize, it matters not how big the school is. What matters is if there is a viable club in the area (with excellent coaches) and parents/kids that are highly motivated in learning and practicing the sport. EVEN AT HOME WHEN THEY ARE ALONE !
As such, Clover is beginning to pic up more and more club players that play in Charlotte, Rock Hill and Gastonia. Thus a connected or 3A school with a solid club in the area, will always obliterate a 4A school with no club players.
Strangely, there are far more girls that are playing club ball here than boys, or the girls have been playing club for a much longer time.

Having a large school has no effect on the results of a soccer match? Here are the top ten schools in the state in 4A

1 Summerville 3326 Ranked in 2008
2 Dorman 3107 Ranked in 2008
3 Wando 3081 Ranked in 2008
4 Stratford 2780 UNR
5 Sumter 2477 UNR
6 Fort Dorchester 2429 UNR
7 Mauldin 2352 Ranked in 2008
8 Lexington 2339 Ranked in 2008
9 West Ashley 2205 Ranked in 2008
10 Spartanburg 2144 Ranked in 2008

7 of 10 were ranked at some point in the top 15.

Here are the bottom 10 in 4A

RNE 1574 UNR
South Florence 1563 UNR
Berkely 1543 UNR
Conway 1538 UNR
James Island 1537 Ranked in 2008
Laurens 1527 UNR
Hartsville 1485 UNR
York 1465 UNR
Lower Richland 1440 UNR
South Aiken 1412 Ranked in 2008

Lets see, that's 2 out of 10. Hmmmmmm.

Let me steal your opening line and change it a bit. How about you put:

"As we all realize, it matters not what I say as just made up a generalization to try and help make up for a Clover loss."

Size of the school can have an effect (pool of players) but the socio-economic status probably has more to do with it. of the 9 school ranked above, how many are "well off"? Of the ones not ranked, who are not?

Which brings up another question, is Clover going to add a 2nd high school like FM did???
Can you imagine FM this year if they had all those kids from the 15th ranked NF!!! WOW!!!

OK, kids. . .

You are wrestling with CORRELATIONS as if they are CAUSES. . .careful. . .

For one generalization buster, historically look at Christ Church (especially when the teams were heavily laden with clubs players) playing larger AA, AAA, AAAA schools with programs including few and no club players. . .CC beat many larger schools.

The two most powerful correlations are clearly socio-econ (see past posts/threads on this) and that factor as it is associated with player access to club/year-round soccer. . .

7/10 vs 2/10

We do this every year

Poverty Index
Class 4A
(1) Fort Mill, 17.39 Currently ranked 8th
(2) Lexington, 19.23 Currently ranked 2nd
(3) Dutch Fork, 22.95 Currently ranked 6th
(4) Wando, 24.00 Currently ranked 1st
(5) Mauldin, 25.73 Currently ranked 13th
(6) Wren, 29.54
(7) Ridge View, 30.33
(8) Fort Dorchester, 35.39
(9) Hillcrest, 35.66
(10) Clover, 36.29
(11) Irmo, 36.39 Currently ranked 12th
(12) North Augusta, 36.63 Currently ranked 11th
(13) James Island, 37.10 Currently ranked 14th
(14) White Knoll, 38.00
(15) Spring Valley, 38.17 Currently ranked 5th
(16) South Aiken, 38.84 Currently ranked 9th
(17) Summerville, 39.50
(18) TL Hanna, 39.59 Currently ranked 7th
(19) Northwestern, 40.22
(20) Stratford, 40.25
(21) West Florence, 40.29
(22) Boiling Springs, 42.42
(23) Easley, 42.84
(24) Byrnes, 44.45 Currently ranked 4th
(25) Dorman, 47.23 Currently ranked 3rd
(26) Richland Northeast, 48.09
(27) Rock Hill, 50.02
(28) Aiken, 50.69
(29) York, 51.46
(30) South Pointe, 51.51

Poverty Index
Class 3A
(1) Chapin, 12.70 Currently ranked 11th
(2) Riverside, 17.48 Currently ranked 1st
(3) Eastside, 27.29 Currently ranked 6th
(4) Daniel, 28.88 Currently ranked 9th
(5) Hilton Head, 30.09 Currently ranked 5th
(6) JL Mann, 35.95 Currently ranked 4th
(7) Blue Ridge, 38.47 Currently ranked 13th
(8) AC Flora, 41.44
(9) Blythewood, 43.28
(10) Bluffton, 43.89
(11) Wade Hampton-G, 44.30 Currently ranked 15th
(12) Lugoff-Elgin, 44.46
(13) Socastee, 45.20
(14) Greer, 45.64
(15) Pickens, 46.27
(16) St. James, 47.44
(17) Dreher, 48.43 Currently ranked 7th
(18) Seneca, 48.51
(19) Carolina Forest, 49.15
(20) Travelers Rest, 49.23
(21) Greenville, 50.27 Currently ranked 8th
(22) Belton-Honea Path, 51.55
(23) North Myrtle Beach, 54.20 Currently ranked 12th
(24) Myrtle Beach, 54.22 Currently ranked 10th
(25) Camden, 57.09
(26) Brookland-Cayce, 57.65 Currently ranked 3rd
(27) Airport, 58.05 Currently ranked 2nd
(28) Midland Valley, 61.29
(29) Woodmont, 62.45
(30) Union, 63.59

Post deleted by CoachMorris

Won't give 'em a break, eh?

Quote:

By the way--2 tournaments in regular season? Is this allowed? I thought it was 1 preseason and 1 regular season--Dale help me out? I might be confused on my rules...

It's 16 varsity matches and two tournaments, one of which may be a preseason tournament.

Fort Mill will have an interesting week. Assuming the weather holds.......they'll have an intense and emotional game versus Clover tonight, followed two night later with a rivalry matchup with Nation Ford.

Airport plays 7 games over the same time period.

Airport won the tourney playing 6 games in 5 days while Clover came in a very respectable 3rd playing 6 games in 5 days as well. Everybody has injuries and fatigue, good job to overcome and perform well by both teams. Clover is a good squad and other than the four goal loss to Airport (probably b/c the Lady Eagles are so good, not that Clover was off) and the Nations Ford disappointment - things have gone well. They'll get that top 15 soon enough.

Keith, teams are not allowed to play two regular season tournaments. Neither can an individual player (one for the JV and one for the Varsity).

Clover is a very good team and I wish them and Coach Mellon(class act!) good luck vs Fort Mill.

got a special D planned for tonight.
Introducing the 1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1

good game tonight, Clover lost in PK's after the first five players to shoot tied once more. FM won in the 2d set.

Quote:

Keith, teams are not allowed to play two regular season tournaments. Neither can an individual player (one for the JV and one for the Varsity).

Here is the paragraph from the soccer rules section of the SCHSL handbook:

Soccer teams are limited to 16 varsity matches and 12 junior varsity matches and two invitational
tournaments. One invitational tournament may be played one week prior to the first legal playing
date. The earliest date for a pre-season tournament is February 22. A school may play 18
varsity matches and one invitational tournament with a written request from the school
and approval from the League Office prior to the beginning of the soccer season.

I don't see anything that says the 2 tournaments can't be during the regular season.

Good then. I just learned something valuable. I knew you couldn't have two preseason so I assumed (yikes!) it was the same for regular season.

Besides playing a 1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1, can anyone give a good summary of the game? Must have been exciting go to PK (a stupid way to end a HS regular season game). Who had good opportunities? Did one team look better and just not finish? etc.

Did my best in the "Post Results" section. Always interested in any other viewpoints

realmccoy: Did Fort Mill run a 3-4-3 the entire game?

Yes, they did. At about the 60th minute, they moved some players around to different positions, but still played the 3-4-3.

realmccoy: Thanks. One last dumb question: was the central defender moved at the 60th minute or did she stay at her position?

Moved up. One other observation about Clover: they were very good at double-teaming FM midfielders as they possessed the ball. Made it more difficult to maintain possession and move the ball around in the offense. Really looked like something they had been working on in practice.

Guys, Clover has been working on that for weeks and it showed last night. Good double teaming all over the field. Clover was out shot, and gave away lots of corner kicks, and several direct kicks within easy scoring range, but FM couldn't finish anything. They had chances and overall kept lots of pressure on the Clover defense. But the Clover D held and looked good, with good goal keeping as well.
That being said, Clover also had chances, 1 open shot over the goal, several blown corner kicks, direct kicks. IMO FM got tired at the end of the first half and it showed. Clover held possession with ease for the last 10 of the first half.
2d half was 60% FM, 40% Clover IMO.
The OT's were uneventful.
Shoot out was a bit sad actually with neither team showing the poise to win in the first 5. FM finally converted the 8th shot of the PK's and that was good enough to end it.

Also, Clover played the game without Rachel.
Also, IMO FM fouled more that Clover and some of it was out of pure frustration. Also on the upside for Clover, none of their fans were ejected.
Lastly, I must say that the refs were calling almost every little bump as a foul. They also called obvious fouls but it sort of killed the game a bit.
This was suppose to be fairly easy for FM, It was not.
LVB

Maestro:
A request for a brief composition, if you will:
Please compare and contrast (didn't you love English class?) Clover's play last night against Fort Mill with Clover's play a few weeks ago against Nation Ford.

"Also on the upside for Clover, none of their fans were ejected."

-just curious because I don't know...is this something that is usually a problem?

Chuckle...Nah, it was a personal dig at one person in particular. It is not a common occurrence in Happy York County!

Just having a little fun with one fan that was asked to leave by the Clover Swat Team.

Tee hee...If that was the SWAT team, I'm bringing all my mayhem to Clover!

I fear my formidable soccer analytical skills will be used to further the Mort Fill advantage vs. Fation Snord.
Therefore, I shall refrain from any further development of the match. However let me say this: Of the nine symphonies I wrote, last nights game would be more in the nature of symphony no. 7, Go get a copy of it and it will all become clear! It really is worth it. If in a rush, go directly to the 4th mvmt.

Do not let the age and lack of teeth fool you with the CSST, Clover Soccer Swat Team. Those guys are the only ones being paid to be in the stands so they must be the smartest ones in the place.

I'm curious as to the match ups in the playoffs for all these teams.
#4 NF vs #1 Dorman
#3 NW vs #2 Byrnes
#2 Clover vs #3 Spartanburg
#1 Ft Mill vs #4 Mauldin

You think NF will be 4th in the group?
I'd say 2d.

I'd guess NF to be 3rd....but with both games remaining with FM and 1 each with Clover and NW....I'd say the thing is wide open.

McCoy....

NF has good goalkeeping and defending, to go along with gutty central midfield play. They are a team of grinders...
not much in the way of flash. Athletic, physical, hard working.

My guess is that 80% of the game tonight will be played in the NF defensive half of the field. The keys will be all FM...can they finish their chances? And can they avoid giving up a big play off of a counter?

Guys, I think you are missing Junior's point.

I think Northwestern will be fortunate to even be in the top 4.

Quote:

Guys, I think you are missing Junior's point.

Evidently. So, what was his point?

I guess also...why all the name changes? W&E? Fluffy? Dale jr?

Sounds a little like the antithesis of Amory Blaine. I know myself he cried.....and that is all.

Cantona, Cantona, Cantona. If not you, who?

Huge gap in this region between top 4 (FM, NW, Clover, NF) and the next 4 (Lancaster, South Pointe, Rock Hill, York).

FM is a lock for #1. Clover is highly probable as # 2. Third seed will likely come down to the NW-NF game. Winner takes #3, loser takes 4. Both teams are likely to come into that game with 4 losses. Given you beat NF earlier, I'm assuming if we tie, you own the tiebreaker, given head to head. So....in essence if NW ties or wins the NF game they get the #3 seed. The Lady Falcons HAVE to win to get the 3.

I guess, given playoff brackets......will it matter?

exactly, and can they get away with rough play.

I don't see how NW could possibly beat NF but that is why the game is played at least judging what I saw in the NF vs Clover. IMO Clover will have a hard time beating NF the 2d time they play. It was a gritty game the first time but to be honest, Clover got very few good chances to score. NF made theirs count. And if Rachel is not better soon, not good for the big C.

Aly was out with a broken bone in her foot for the first NW game.

"IMO Clover will have a hard time beating NF the 2d time they play"

What? You crazy. Clover has way more soccer talent than we do, even without Rachel. We do have athletes tho....so I'll give us the proverbial punchers chance against Clover. But thats it. On paper Clover is 3-4 goals better.

But thats why they play the games.

Quote:

i will be in the smokies miles back on a trout stream with nothing but me and the bears.im sure hurst will call me with updates if he is back from the island of ELBA.

ft-mill on PKs

just got in from the outback trout fishing and got the result.anyone want to take me to vegas???

"I guess, given playoff brackets......will it matter?"

exactly, Big Daddy...that was Junior's point. No matter how Region 3 lines up they will face Dorman, Byrnes, Sparkle City, or Mauldin and there isn't much difference between them all.

CJ,

Junior is right on in regards to Northwestern and Nation Ford.

I think FM and Clover are fine tho. Should be a great playoff year.

just remember we thought that last year when we were a 1 seed playing #4 Byrnes who had lost their last 2 or 3 games before the playoffs.

Ask Junior how that turned out.

BAD!!!!

I'm thinking only one will make it through. I pray all four do for selfish reeasons

"Sounds a little like the antithesis of Amory Blaine. I know myself he cried.....and that is all."

wow, Big Daddy. While we are yukking it up with National Lampoon Vacation references you whip out "This side of Paradise"...let me guess, you teach English!

Us science guys are too busy playing in labs to read Fitzgerald.

Actually Jr/W&E/Fluffy/R1.com/etc. is a lot like Amory Blaine.

I wouldn't mind seeing SA in the second round.

Quote:

"Sounds a little like the antithesis of Amory Blaine. I know myself he cried.....and that is all."

wow, Big Daddy. While we are yukking it up with National Lampoon Vacation references you whip out "This side of Paradise"...let me guess, you teach English!

Us science guys are too busy playing in labs to read Fitzgerald.

Actually Jr/W&E/Fluffy/R1.com/etc. is a lot like Amory Blaine.

Not an English teacher.....but would have loved it. Maybe when I retire that can be a second career. But with 4 kids I can't afford my Club soccer bills on a teachers salary!!!

I've always loved the "Lost Generation" writers. Waiting for Jim Morrison to share some of his trout fishing experiences from the last couple of days with us.

Quote:

I wouldn't mind seeing SA in the second round.

Lets meet for the Upper State and you got yourself a deal.

For the record, Amory Blaine was a pooh boy with one twisted mother. The guy sang too much, was confused with his own gender, and reminds me of a guy from Lugoff. How dare you slap my face with such accusations!

What? You crazy. Clover has way more soccer talent than we do, even without Rachel. We do have athletes tho....so I'll give us the proverbial punchers chance against Clover. But thats it. On paper Clover is 3-4 goals better.

I assume you were at the game. No, not crazy, just stating an opinion and I'd love Clover to win, but they'll have to play better than last time. Should be a close game again.

Farkas = Beethoven
Dale Jr = Fluffy = W&E
Jim Morrison = Soccer 42 = Cesa 42

We are legion.....

Teasing guy.....but don't pull a Lou Holtz on me here. Yeah, I was at the game, at least for the last 30 minutes or so.

Big Daddy = Crap Bucket

Quote:

Farkas = Beethoven
Dale Jr = Fluffy = W&E
Jim Morrison = Soccer 42 = Cesa 42

We are legion.....

Teasing guy.....but don't pull a Lou Holtz on me here. Yeah, I was at the game, at least for the last 30 minutes or so.

i will turn 43 soon.a name change could be coming.im thinking janis joplin 43
"OLE LORD WANT YOU BUY ME A MERCEEEEDEZ BENZ"

Big Daddy = Genius ! Hey is that name taken?

I like that better than Crap Bucket. Altho, perhaps the latter is more applicable!!!

I was going to go with Banana Hammock, but felt drawn to BC. Go with "Poundage" and everyone will be afraid of you

Quote:

"When you were attacked by more than one person, the enemy should be allowed to make the first move, and thus create the beginning of his downfall."

somebody snatch the pebble from his hand

Quote:

somebody snatch the pebble from his hand

somebody already slapped the hair off his head

Sniffing too much during the wax on and wax off.

Gentlemen,
I fear that we have somehow, strayed off the original topic of Clover vs Ft. Mill.
That being said let us now move on to other topics of mutual interest such as the upcoming Clover vs Manchester United Jr. Womens team.

Farthoven