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FINALS MATCHUPS (According to the recent rotation, Upperstate representatives will host)

4A: Northwestern v. Spring Valley

*In what is arguably becoming the fiercest rivalry in high school soccer, the Trojans and Vikings meet for the third consecutive year in the state finals. These two teams have played three times since 2006, with each game being decided by one goal. Northwestern, led by two-time state player of the year Enzo Martinez, have not lost since their mid-season meeting with the Vikings. Spring Valley, one of the nation's top squads, comes into the finals with a perfect regular-season record and hopes of finishing off the year with an undefeated 2008 campaign, and a #1 national ranking.

3A: Riverside v. Chapin

*Both squads overcame tough, hard-fought semifinal matchups to earn a berth in Saturday's game at Stone Stadium. Riverside hopes to finish this season as they did in 2006, as they defeated Dreher 2-1 for the state championship. Chapin comes into this year's championship finale with an 11-game winning streak, and are making their first finals appearance since their 2003 title, while members of the 2A classification.

2A: Emerald v. Bishop England

*Emerald appears to be playing their best soccer of the 2008 season, coming into their matchup with Bishop England having yet to concede a goal in the playoffs. They last captured a championship in 2004 against the Bishops at Memorial Field in Columbia. Bishop England has been ranked at the top of 2A soccer for three consecutive years and comes into Saturday's match hoping to claim yet another title for their rapidly growing collection. A roster led by 4 all-state players, the Bishops have yet to lose to 2A competition since the 2004 championship match, and they will certainly be looking to continue their streak.

1A: Christ Church v. Academic Magnet

Christ Church finds their way into the championship match this year having defeated Southside Christian, a side who defeated them twice earlier in the year. A 2-1 winner in last year's final, CCES will be looking for redemption yet again as the Raptors defeated them earlier this year. Academic Magnet, fresh off of their 4-0 victory over the Governor's School, have not given up a goal since their April meeting with this Christ Church squad. Having lost the last two years in the semifinals to Lincoln, the Raptors are making their first finals appearance since an overtime loss to CCES in 2005.

Predictions:

4A: Spring Valley
3A: Chapin
2A: Bishop England
1A: Academic Magnet

Fans' Predictions: Spring Valley v. Northwestern single choice

Spring Valley (56%, 45 Votes)

Northwestern (44%, 35 Votes)

Total Votes: 80 Voting on this poll ends: 05/17/08 04:00 PM

Fans' Predictions: Chapin v. Riverside single choice

Chapin (67%, 53 Votes)

Riverside (33%, 26 Votes)

Total Votes: 79 Voting on this poll ends: 05/17/08 04:00 PM

Fans' Predictions: Bishop England v. Emerald single choice

Bishop England (79%, 62 Votes)

Emerald (21%, 16 Votes)

Total Votes: 78 Voting on this poll ends: 05/17/08 04:00 PM

Fans' Predictions: Academic Magnet v. Christ Church single choice

Academic Magnet (56%, 44 Votes)

Christ Church (44%, 34 Votes)

Total Votes: 78 Voting on this poll ends: 05/17/08 04:00 PM

4A: NORTHWESTERN 2-1
Enzo and the rest of the VERY talented side will come to play...

3A: RIVERSIDE 2-0
I think Chapin will not be ready for Riverside and they've already played 3 very tough games.

2A: EMERALD 1-0
Nothing to say besides that I wasn't impressed with B.E. when I saw them in the Palmetto Cup.

2A: EMERALD 1-0
Nothing to say besides that I wasn't impressed with B.E. when I saw them in the Palmetto Cup.

And you were impressed with Emerald in the Palmetto Cup?

Bishop England was in by far the easiest group...they tied a 4a team that lost in the first round...and they got lucky against wando and got spanked by Spring Valley

You would say that, you ???. Emerald looked terrible in the Palmetto Cup and is lucky to have lived through it. I hope they look better in the state finals, but I don't think many will be there to watch another BE win!

wat do u mean??? everyone is rooting for emerald or no one wants to come because they expect BE to win

I tink BE 4-0 demelves. Day be gettin up in dis piece be4 long.

thanx for the straight answer marcus...

http://wyff.highschoolplaybook.com/

Riverside easily...b/c chapin blows mainly because their goalie is frequently on facebook


and greenville is still better even though they lost

I stand by my picks from the semi-finals prediction thread:

Spring Valley
Chapin
Bishop England
Academic Magnet

The AAAA match is a toss-up though. Spring Valley and Northwestern are national caliber teams. The loser would be champion in more states than not.

NW 2-0
they just want it more.

Northwestern 2-1
Riverside 2-0
Bishop England 1-0
Christ Church 2-0

I just thought although BE got some good results they did have a weak group. That being said Emerald didn't do very well but they also had a very tough group. I just like Emerald in a game similar to last years. Maybe this year they'll put at least one PK away! LOL

4A- Northwestern
Enzo, need I say more. But will be close game but I feel Enzo will have to be the difference.
3A- Chapin
Guessing on this one, not real sure about either team but If they can win in the Cage then they can't be that bad.
2A- Bishop England
Best team in 2A but should have played Barnwell in 3rd round, and they would have given Bishop England a match.
1A- Academic Magnet
I played againist this team in the regular season so I know how good they really are. Easy pick for this game, but it will probably still be a fairly close game.

Bad Influence- Emerald conceded 2 goals to Walhalla in the upper state finals. Score on the scoreboard is wrong.

hey goal08...how many did Walhalla concede that game??? just curious

I would want this guy to coach my junior year and leave before my senior year

coaches and leaves Northwestern - the next year Northwestern wins 4A
coaches and leaves Greenville - the next year Greenville wins 3A
coaches and leaves Riverside - the next year Riverside heads to the 3A Championship and has a good chance to win!

The curse lives on!!!

the coach you are talking about is a great coach. you may say theres a curse but if he would of stayed at any of these schools then obviously he would have won a state championship. the reason why he left the schools, still a mystery. it wasnt his coaching that prevented him from winning it bc he was a great coach as i said.

Many of his former HS teams had the potential to win state and just couldn't finish the season (Northwestern '05, Greenville '06, etc). Several of his former players have told me they felt burned out by the time playoffs rolled around. If it happened once you could say bad luck, good coach. After 3 times it's fair to ask questions! Everyone always says "great coach, great coach"... but it's really not difficult to win with loaded club teams!

How would Barnwell gave BE a better matchup? they lost to AJ. the better team won

coaches and leaves Northwestern - the next year Northwestern wins 4A
coaches and leaves Greenville - the next year Greenville wins 3A
coaches and leaves Riverside - the next year Riverside heads to the 3A Championship and has a good chance to win!

The curse lives on!!!

Interesting point! I think that all of those teams probably were loaded with talent from club ball. What amazes me are the teams that continually produce winners without that $$$ pipeline. It's easy to win with club players at the HS level - look at South Aiken with the Aiken Fire players.

It is really about having $$$ pipelines in urban areas like Greenville, Columbia, and Charleston. Big cities with lots of money and many soccer-playing children who eventually grow into soccer-playing high schoolers.

GIRLS
2A/1A - Woodruff 2-1 Bishop England
3A - Hilton Head 2-1 Riverside
4A - Wando 2-1 Mauldin

BOYS
1A - Academic Magnet 2-1 Christ Church
2A - Bishop England 3-0 Emerald
3A - Chapin 2-1 Riverside
4A - Northwestern 3-2 Spring Valley

SV 2-1 NW

Have seen both teams play Irmo and thought SV looked like the better team top to bottom. I think Holland is all the player Enzo is.

Bishop England 14 to 0

I don't know too much about the girls side, but let me tell you that it's taken a few days to get back on here after the Eastside (boys) loss. I really thought EHS would take the title again, but Riverside scored and we didn't, so congrats to the Warriors!

Therefore I feel like the upstate will once again prevail in AAA. Northwestern will upend Spring Valley in AAAA. Coin flip in the AA game with neither team nearly as strong as past squads. The 1A Final will be the same way. Hopefully there will be lots of goals and exciting soccer. I'll be there on Saturday.

Club tryouts and selections soon enough for the "second season". Can't wait!

girls
woodruff
riverside
mauldin

boys
NW
chapin
emerald
AM

jkr:
I agree with all your picks.

Emerald was up on Lexington 1-0 at half lost there top guy with a knee injury.Then lost 4 -1. I will agree they didn't play as well in the Palmetto cup but they had both of their best players whom were both seniors miss the next two games.They lost 3-0 to Eastside and tyed the next game but they have everyone healthy now, I think they give the private 2ABishop England a run for their money.

I've only seen Enzo play a couple of times, but I've watched "Holland" all year. They're entirely different players. Enzo is more polished. Holland is much faster. Enzo's very strong with his back to the goal and his turns can be beautiful to watch. Holland loves to run at people. Enzo tends to play primarily in the attacking third of the field. Holland is everywhere, with a motor that has one gear - high.

If you had to take only one of them to start a team, most people would take Enzo. That said, Holland doesn't fill the "Enzo" role on Spring Valley. If anyone does that, it's Mike Czulinski - very strong and very skilled.

So, they're both great players and both are hugely important to their teams' success. I've seen most of the top teams this year and these two guys stand out from all the rest. By all accounts they are better people than they are soccer players, and that's saying something.

Good luck Saturday to everyone playing. It should be a terrific two days of soccer.

great post HappyDaddy, really look forward to the match tomorrow night, holland and enzo are two of the best players in the state

i say the game will be 3-2 in either way, not sure which team is stronger right now

Well stated HappyDaddy. I've seen both play this year also. I would say that NW is very solid and will be hard to beat... but, SV has a way of winning and they will be hard to beat.

I'm looking forward to watching what should be a very exciting game.

I agree HappyDaddy. Holland is a very explosive player and his work ethic is excellent. I also noticed he runs at people often when I have seen him play. He is definitely a special player and it should be a great match tomorrow night!

Ill give the edge to the holland kid

I would like to say that Coach Finotti is a great coach...I can speak from personal experience that he doesn't have a curse. I played for the 06 and 07 Greenville High team and the 06 team was by far a more dominate team the team that won last years state championship...the loss came from a lack of effort and concentration on our part...he had us more than prepared.


But it is kinda funny that those results have come from the teams he has coached

I dont blame him for losing to South Aiken in 05. He may seriously be cursed though.

must be coincidence the man is a great coach

and the kid might want to try shooting a little closer to goal

Finotti is a good coach and I don't blame him for the South Aiken 05' game either. South Aiken was the better team. It would have been great to see them play the Eastide 05' team.

MB - we did play in '05 (Northwestern High Cotton Classic Championship Game). Nick and I talk about it that game from time to time and we're both on board with the fact that was the best high school game either of us has ever seen.

Dcsoccer, I was referring to South Aiken vs Eastside, it would have been great to see these two teams play that year. I was at that Northwestern vs Eastside game and must agree that it was the best high school game I have ever seen.

Good Luck to Emerald and Riverside today!!!

is the A game over yet?

SA Eastside in 05 would have been a game to see.

yea it was a good game. coach finotti got in a fight with an eastside player too.

cabj12 - Wrong on your account of the situation. Right mid for EHS and Left Mid for NW got tangled up and ended up out of bounds with EHS player on top of NW player. Finotti first on the scene and I was right there with him a second later. Finotti pulled the EHS player off of the NW player because of the extra curriculars going both ways (imagine a heated match, tied late and a 50/50 ball with two very good players challenging and getting tangled up and momentum carrying them out of bounds in front of NW bench). No fight ever occurred between Finotti and a player, much less a player to player fight.

my fault on the bad reporting...figures the EHS player would end up on top though

I think BE would get better comp if they played in scisa with teams like Pinewood and CN instead of AA where they win it easy every year