SC Soccer Forums SCSoccer.com Forums Girls Varsity Soccer Upper State/lLower State predictions

The end of the season is a little over two weeks away with playoffs just around the corner. Any predictions? I am more familiar with upper state teams and have seen several of them play. Mann probably has the most overall talent, but Wade Hampton, Fort Mill, Dorman are all having very good seasons. Wando, Dutch Fork, and Blythewood are AAAA teams that are also having good seasons. When it comes to playoffs, anything can happen, and the team with overall chemistry that plays well together can pull an upset over a team with the most talent.

When it comes to AAA, I believe it will be between Greenville and Eastside. With AA I think Christ Church will be the winner of Upper State.

Of course, I've been wrong with my predictions in the past. How about Lower State? Anyone willing to jump in?

One more thing? Are playoff brackets posted yet?

Backets are on the SCHSL website.

I'll take a shot and jump in.

AAAA - If Wando wins out, the Lower State Finals will be played at Wando. My thought is that the Region 8 #1 (currently Fort D.) or the Region 5 #2 (currently Lexington) will play them in the final.

Region 5 #1 (currently Dutch Fork) appears to be the top team in the other side of the Lower State bracket. Lot of soccer to be played on how Region 5 ends up.

AAA - Hilton Head is the top dog but I'd look out for James Island. They are very young and getting better with each match. Their freshman keeper will keep them in every match.

A/AA - I think you can go ahead and give this to Academic Magnet. Scary thing about AM, they have no seniors.

Just one persons thoughts.

Use this link. http://www.schsl.org/2013Forms/AAAA12-13Handbook.pdf

It's either on page 66 or 67 of the handbook.

I just realized this is the 2012/2013 handbook and not the 2013/2014 one.

A few thoughts...

The Wando v Academic Magnet game on May 1 will give us a good comparison between Wando and Fort Mill. Fort Mill beat AM in PKs in the viking cup so how Wando does will say a lot about how Wando and FM might line up.

Dorman and Wade Hampton play this week with their region championship on the line. Dorman looks to have the up hand based on their previous win over Hampton.

Mann and Fort Mill shouldn't be challenged until playoffs.

So... unless Lexington can pull an upset for the ages I would expect Wando to win the lower.

In the Upper it looks Fort Mill and Mann are on a collision course for the Upper State championship.

I think that game comes down to home field. Remember Fort Mill went to Mann last year in the playoffs and nearly played Mann to a tie. The game winning goal was scored with about 20 mins left and the difference turned out to be a PK off an inadvertent hand ball in the box. So these were two very evenly matched teams last year. And Fort Mill is a better team this year than last year. (No diss on Mann they may be better too, I don't know.)

I think the turf field could be a factor too. FM has played 10 of its last 11 games on turf and only has one more grass game left so by time they get to the Upper state that will be 17 out of 19 games on turf. Teams that play on grass tend to struggle on turf with their passing because surface is faster and they tend over kick it, plus the field is wider. Unless they changed since last year Mann plays on grass and I don't recall it being a wide field (correct me if I am wrong on either account) So in a tight game turf could be the difference between winning and losing.

Overall I think a Mann v Fort Mill game should be a very good game, last years game certainly was one. FM's only goal came on a goalie v player collision with the ball trickling through in slow motion. And it took Mann 60 minutes to get their only field goal (not counting the PK) so I would expect this to be another very close hard fought battle between two of the best teams in the state.

After that the winner can try and beat Wando.

At 3a its gonna be an Eastside v Hilton Head rematch again, four straight for Hilton Head?

2a Academic Magnet, who could could lay claim to being the best team in the state if they beat Wando next week. Although they do play a pretty weak schedule.

I agree with much of what you've said. I will have to take your word on Fort Mill's talent since I haven't seen them play, but it's clear from their record that they are one of the best teams in the state. I've looked at the brackets, but it's still hard to determine when teams will meet with one another. If Mann and Fort Mill hit no bumps in the road between now and Upper State, they should meet there. But, one of the two will have to face Wade Hampton early on and the other will face Dorman. Wade Hampton is good this year, and it will be interesting to watch them in the playoffs. They had a good team last year, but, if I remember correctly, they were without one of their top scorers during last year's playoffs. Dorman is good too.

As far as the home field goes, that is an advantage for Fort Mill. The turf may also play to their advantage, although Mann does have quite a few ECNL players who see turf quite often. I think that the faster team is usually the team with the advantage on turf. I'm not sure if that is Fort Mill or Mann, but Mann does have it's share of fast players, provided those fast players who are used to playing on turf are on the field for much of the game.

In the end, much in high school comes down to coaching and getting the right mix of players on the field at the right time. Most high school teams rely on the neighborhoods that feed into the school, and it's up to the coach to make the best of the mix of talent they are given. Wando is a huge school in a soccer rich area with a coach that is successful in both club and high school. They have the state championships to show for it. It will be interesting to see if there is a new team (either Mann, Wade Hampton, Fort Mill, or Dorman) that will take that championship away from them.

One more thing. I did see Academic Magnet play during the Viking Cup. I was impressed, and if they have no seniors that's even more impressive.