Well, soccerdfner16 you'll get your chance! It's called the State Playoffs.
Anyone who claims South Aiken as the only team left that was undefeated is misrepresenting the facts. Mauldin, Eastside, James Island and RNE (tie not a loss) were all undefeated (just like South Aiken) after group play finished on Saturday evening (FoxFan got it wrong - JI had 3 wins, not 2, in group play). South Aiken read the tournament scoring rules just like everyone else - they knew what they were up against. The "rules" didn't keep SA out of the semis. The fact that they didn't score enough points did (soccerdfner16, SA/JI didn't play head to head). Wando beat Fort Mill, who beat Lexington, who beat Wando. Who gets to the semis? Easy, the scoring rules were sent to all of the coaches well before play began, and published in the tournament program for the fans to see. Nobody was surprised by the semifinalists! If you don't believe me ask all of the Fort Mill coaches, players and fans gathered around the Irmo/Spartanburg game hoping Irmo would score. The FM folks knew exactly what had to happen for them to get in to the Semis. They didn't even stick around to see who won that game!
I found it interesting that the only team in the semis with a loss (Fort Mill) - won it all! Also of note, they came from Group C, which many were proclaiming the "group of death", or whatever. By the way FoxFan, your analysis on another thread for placement determining toughness breaks down when you consider that points were accumulated, hence placement (except for those in the semis), by playing those in your group only. Having watched most of the games in Group C, I will tell you that with the exception of the Fort Mill/Lexington game, they were all very exciting contests. Brookland-Cayce takes the cake on exciting by playing in TWO overtime games and a 4-3 match that saw FOUR goals scored in the last ten minutes. Don't stop at a drugstore in West Columbia if you are looking for antacid. Also of note from Group C, while it was the only group with no team emerging undefeated, it was also the only group in which everyone got at least one win. Six solid soccer squads (say that three times fast).
What does all of this mean? I agree with FoxFan's comment on the aforementioned thread, "It means the regular season starts in a week and we can finally discuss real results from real games. Thanks for playing."
