SC Soccer Forums SCSoccer.com Forums Girls Varsity Soccer Post Week #4 scores and results in this thread (3/28-4/3) ...

Did I claim to be the best?

The difference with Region IV is that by the SCHSL decision makers' wisdom, the 3, 4, and 5 seed have to play in the lower state brackets of the playoffs even though Region IV is an upper state region. So the #3 seed has to face a #1 seed in the first round instead of the normal #2.

ok

Like Jonathan said Coach P and you should know this... It doesn't matter what seed you are and what seed you'll be playing. If your the best then you're the best and no one not even the #1 seed can beat you.

It sounds like you guys are saying that it's OK for Jonathan to comment about who he has to play in the first round (possibly Riverside) but it's not OK for me to point out the inequity of having 3 Region IV teams travel to the lower state and screw up the seeding system just to avoid having a Region I team and a Region II team travel to the lower state.

All of you have left out 1 glaring error from the AAAA soccer playoff pairings. The 5th seed from Region I is paired with the 2nd seed from Region III.

So whereas Jonathan and 4th seed Easley may get a nice helping of Riverside in the first round, 5th place Westside will get a Spartanburg/Clover team that is not nearly as strong.

If I were a region I team, and I wanted to make it further in the playoffs, my smartest path would be to throw nearly every game, beat Laurens and Woodmont, and finish 5th. Anyone I face as the 5th seed is going to be better than being region champion.

Another point of interest is the phrase being thrown around, "to be the best, you have to beat the best". I don't think teams like Westside and Easley are sitting around pontificating whether or not they are the best team in the state.

In the near decade that I coached at Westside, I constantly struggled against Jonathan to make the playoffs. For about the last 5 years, the SCHSL has been to lazy to change the pairings for AAAA girls soccer. Needless to say, there were years where I would have loved for my girls to have the opportunity to face Spring Valley or Fort Mill in the first round, instead of Mauldin.

Did I hope to win state? No. Did the repetitiveness of facing a team as strong as Mauldin demoralize my girls before the game was even played? Yes. Would playing a team they knew nothing about have presented a more level playing field, given the propensity of girls to "know where they stand" in terms of being able to determine whether or not they really have a chance to upset a stronger team? Yes.

Some teams are only happy to win it all, while other teams are just happy to be invited to the dance.

I'm not exactly sure what you are saying but I think I agree. Maybe a play-in system where the 4 seeds play each other would be better.

Your point about the smartest path to stay in the playoffs longer also applies to Region IV. The 4 seed has a chance to make it to the third round while the 3 seed has less of a chance to make it past Wando in the first round. So should a Region IV team consider throwing a game or two to finish 4th instead of 3rd?

The other side of this is that #1 Wando has to face a tougher team in the first round (say Dutch Fork or Blythewood) than in the second or third round. What if one of them knocks them out in the first round rather than in a later round? Is that desirable?

Regardless of the "you have to play them sometime" comments, I think we all want to hang around as long as we can in the playoffs.

The Blythewood vs. Lexington match originally scheduleded for Wednesday, March 30, has been rescheduled for May 5 at 6:00 PM at Blythewood.