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All the staff and people involved in the Palmetto Cup should be congratulated for a professional job well done. The concession staff, the ball boys, the ticket people and all those invloved made it a truly enjoyable experience for everyone and it is a model for the conduct of a tournament.
Congratulations!!!

I second Bazza's sentiment. As usual, the tourney was competitive and very well organized. Congratulations are due to all of the teams that participated, to the tourney champions Norman North and to the BC staff for all of the hard work that went into this event.

Kicking Around: The Week In Boys Soccer
http://scvarsity.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=404898
John Devlin, SCVarsity.com Staff
April 3, 2005

The weather was miserable, but that did not diminish the play at the 13th annual Palmetto Cup gathering at Brookland-Cayce and Airport last week.

Through two days of rain and gale-force winds on the final day, not a single Cup game was cancelled.

In the end, Norman North of Oklahoma continued its run of dominance in South Carolina, going 4-0-1, including a 1-0 overtime win over Bishop England in the championship match at The Cage on Saturday night.

It was the second straight Cup title for the Timberwolves, and the third in four tries since Bryan Young’s team made its Palmetto State debut in 2000. Norman North is now 15-1-2 all-time in tournament outings.

“We’re fortunate to have the opportunity to travel that a lot of teams don’t have, and we really enjoy coming here,” said Young. “Kyle and Kevin (Heise) do a great job with this tournament – it is so well run. It is the most organized tournament we’ve ever been to. It fits in nicely to our season back home, and we get to see some good competition.”

The Timberwolves saw considerable competition in the finale, despite dominating most of the 90 minutes of play.

Norman North, featuring abundant speed, size and skill, generated plenty of scoring chances, but were thwarted time after time by the aggressive and inspired play of sophomore Bishop England keeper Phillip Ricciardone.

The Timberwolves out-shot the Bishops 14-7 and had six corner opportunities to four for the Bishops.

Still, it took a lucky bounce for the Oklahomans to avoid going to the anything-goes penalty kick shootout phase to determine the champion.

Fullback J.P. Hanger’s shot as he was angling into the box from the right side deflected off BE defender Arthur Holdclaw and into the open right corner of the net as Ricciardone scrambled to cover the far side.

“It was definitely a shot, not a centering pass,” said Hanger, a tall junior who gave the Bishops fits in the box on set pieces all night. “I was going for the far side, and didn’t see the defender until I hit the ball. Luckily it hit off him and into the net.”

The score came in the 90th minute, just 48 seconds before the shootout was to begin.

“I thought we controlled the game and created a lot of opportunities, but we just couldn’t finish like we had been doing in the tournament,” said Young, whose team is ranked No. 1 in the Midwest and No. 3 nationally by StudentSports.com. “But you have to give (Bishop England) credit. They played hard, and that keeper did a great job. We’re just glad to get the win.”

Ricciardone shut out Summerville 2-0 in the semifinals, and became the talk of the tournament among the college coaches in attendance.

That didn’t surprise BE coach Ed Khouri.

“Phillip had an outstanding tournament,” said the Bishops veteran boss. “He’s only a sophomore, but he’s is going to be one of the best keeper prospects in the state before he’s through.”

Bishop England, which moved up to No. 1 in the Class 2A rankings by The Sports News this week, went 3-2-0 in the tournament, improving to 10-7-0 overall.

“We knew (Norman North) was a strong team with size and speed, and that we couldn’t match them straight up, so we more or less played it conservative and hoped to take advantage of any scoring opportunities that came our way,” said Khouri after the title bout. “Tactically, I felt we performed very well, tonight, and throughout the tournament. We struggled a little bit early in the season, but maybe we’re turning the corner at the right time.”

The Bishops should be a team on a mission. After all, the current senior class is facing the prospect of being the first group of BE players since the team moved down to the 2A ranks in 1992 to graduate without ever experiencing the thrill of winning a state championship.

BE’s last state title came in 2001.

Norman North strikes again
http://studentsportssoccer.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=404962
Sheldon Shealer, StudentSportsSoccer.com Editor
April 4, 2005

For six straight years, Norman North has traveled to the East coast to test its players, and this year's visit to wet and windy South Carolina paid huge dividends.

Norman North went 4-0-1, pinning the first loss on Wando (S.C.) and beating Bishop England (S.C.) in the title match to claim its second straight Palmetto Cup title. In four visits to South Carolina, Norman North has won three titles and lost only one match in 19 contests.

Norman North entered the tournament ranked No. 2 in the StudentSportsSoccer.com FAB 50. A 3-0 win over No. 15 Wando simply reinforces the Timberwolves ranking among the nation's elite teams.

The final between Norman North and Bishop England on Saturday went to overtime before the Timberwolves pulled out a 1-0 victory against the nation's unluckiest team this season. Bishop England is 10-7 this year, six of the losses are by one goal. In the final minute of overtime, a shot by Norman North's John Paul Hanger deflected off a Bishop England defender and into the goal for the winner.

"On the day, Pope John Paul II passes, we have a player named John Paul score the winning goal," Young said. "Maybe we had more than luck on our side."

The result leaves Norman North with a 6-0-1 record.

Norman North was led by a pair of juniors, striker Jimmy Anderson and defender Brandon Jack. Both are juniors. Anderson scored six goals in five matches, including two against Wando. Jack anchors a tall and stellar Timberwolves' defense. Three defenders are 6-foot-2 or taller, including the 6-5 Hanger.

Norman North had played only two matches before traveling to South Carolina. The South Carolina programs are well into their season, most had played at least 12 times. Young said Norman North needed to work out problems in its defense after the first two matches (a 4-3 win over Daniel and a 2-2 draw with Hilton Head).

For the Timberwolves, the tournament turned on its match with Wando. The match was scoreless at halftime. In the second half, Russ Coleman scored on a direct kick, then Anderson finished two chances for the 3-0 victory.

Wando was 13-0-1 before the contest.

"We had to win the game to win the group," Young said. "I challenged the kids, and I couldn't have asked anything more. It was a big effort, and we had to have it. ... It was a tremendous effort, one of the best games we have ever played."

After taking out Wando, Norman North started Saturday morning with a 5-2 semifinal win over Brookland-Cayce.

Since 2000, Norman North has traveled to South Carolina four times and Georgia twice. Young said he wants his program to compete against the best East teams for two reasons — one to put them in hostile environments to see you they react, and secondly, to show off the strength of Oklahoma soccer.

Norman North's roster is dominated by juniors, as only three seniors see action. The exposure for the Timberwolves might result in offers from the eastern programs that attended the event. Young said he spoke to the University of South Carolina coach regarding a few of his players.

Although Norman North is the two-time defending Palmetto Cup champion, Young has not committed to the event for 2006. He said he's interested in competing against the northern Virginia powers, programs that are usually restricted from traveling out-of-state given the sizable number of quality programs in the region.

The 2006 Palmetto Cup will be held April 12-15, 2006 at Brookland-Cayce HS and Airport HS.

Norman North-OK is 15-1-2 in 18 Palmetto Cup outings. Listed below are their tournament results:

2000 (4-0-0, 1st) -- NN 5-0 Dutch Fork, NN 4-0 Myrtle Beach, NN 2-1 Summerville, NN 2-1 Hillcrest

2002 (2-1-1, 5th) -- NN 2-3 Bishop England, NN 0-0 Brookland-Cayce, NN 3-0, James Island, NN 1-0 Summerville

2004 (5-0-0, 1st) -- NN 6-0 West Florence, NN 9-0 Dorman, NN 2-0 Dreher, NN 2-0 Hilton Head, NN 2-0 Riverside

2005 (4-0-1, 1st) -- NN 4-3 Daniel, NN 3-3 Hilton Head, NN 3-0 Wando, NN 5-2 Brookland-Cayce, NN 1-0 ot Bishop England

This is great publicity for SC soccer. Kudos to those involved in making this a premier event! I got to see the Ridge View and Bishop England game at BC and the Ridge View and Fort Mill game at Airport. Both facilities are very nice, though a bit of a squeeze, but a great atmosphere for soccer. I wish that there were three officials, but I know there is a shortage in Columbia. I saw several college coaches there as well and that speaks volumes about the quality of the tournament. Good job!

The 2005 Palmetto Cup All-Tournament Team can be found at the link provided.

2005 Palmetto Cup All-Tournament Team

Palmetto Cup Has Exceeded Expectations (4/6/05)
Soccer tournament continues to thrive
Bill Mitchell, Lexington County Chronicle

The short, action-packed "season" that is the Palmetto Cup left Brookland-Cayce soccer coach Kevin Heise tired, but pleased on two fronts.

The event went off without a hitch and his B-C team performed well.

The event, founded by Heise and his brother Kyle, 13 years ago, has grown from a humble four-team field to 16 quality programs for a very hectic weekend of soccer over the spring break, including a few out of state powers.

Norman North, Okla., ranked third in the nation, bested Bishop England 1-0 for this year's title.

"We've flirted with going to 24 teams, but we're likely to stick with 16," said Heise. "We try to keep a good balance with the traditionally stronger local teams, the better teams state-wide and balance out the field with a few quality out of state program."

"We've tried to make the tournament a regional event and we've gotten publicity from several web sites and attracted a lot of attention. To be honest, 10 years ago, we never envisioned it becoming this grand of an event."

The weather proved to be the biggest handicap for the event.

Rain and then extremely windy and cold conditions made life uncomfortable for players and fans alike.

"We had probably the worst playing conditions we've had, but the tournament went off as smooth as it ever has," Heise said. "That's a testament for our volunteer staff. Our people have done it enough to know what to do, really professional. Each took off work and took vacation to work our tournament."

The tournament has grown into a fund-raising efforr for the soccer program at Brookland-Cayce, but that hasn't always been the goal.

"We were not a soccer power by any stretch of the imagination when I came here," said Heise.

"I felt that we needed to play better teams to measure our progress. We were able to schedule Mauldin and South Florence, two top 10 Class 4A teams at the time (1993) and were fortunate enough to beat them."

"The games didn't hurt you on your record, win or loss, but it did give us a lot of confidence," he said. "We felt that we could get to this level. The reason to play the tournament was to play teams that were better than us."

The high competition level preps teams for the stretch run of the regular season. By playing a large number of games in a short four-day period, it also tests your depth.

Even Norman North, although unbeaten and tournament champion, was tied by Hilton Head.

"I'm proud of the fact that, over the years, few people have come here and gone unscathed," said Heise. "That just shows the caliber of the tournament. And it happens more often than not."

As time has gone by the tournament has become an important financial contributor to the soccer program.

"When we went to eight teams, it was the first time we made any profit and after we expanded to 12 teams in 1998, you could see the potential as a fund-raising activity," said Heise. "We have good tournament sponsors and people who buy ads in the program. Everything adds up."

"It's a way for us not to be a burden on the athletic program, asking them for funds. We're pretty self-sufficient. Our athletic director (Brad Coleman) is very happy because it allows money to go to other sports that don't have this kind of opportunity."

The Bearcats, although only 8-7-1 for the season, performed well in the tournament, advancing to the semifinals before losing to Norman North and finishing third in the Cup's standings.

The young team may have turned the corner.

"For us to be in the semifinals was a good week for us," Heise said. "But this is behind us now. Now we need to focus on that task at hand and that's winning the region. We've played the toughest schedule we've ever played."

"We're a good team and the kids know it now. We've played the best teams and hung with all of them."

The Bearcats can take a giant step toward that goal by beating Dreher Tuesday at The Cage, B-C's home field.

Winning the region means improving your position for the playoffs.

"That gives you home games for the playoffs," Heise said.

"The easier you can make it for yourself, the better off you are. We love playing at home and we're a different team at home than on the road."

There was a great picture of junior Blake Hinton moving up field with referee Mike Mangum also in the frame taken by Aaron Morrison. The Lexington County Chronicle can be found at many Midlands shopping centers and costs $0.75 per week.