Summerville 0 @ James Island 4
The #2 ranked James Island Trojans dominated the #9 ranked Summerville Greenwave from opening whistle to the end of the 80th minute in a display of crisp soccer fundamentals, beautiful crossing shots and a midfield that denied the Greenwave the opportunity to move the ball down the field consistantly. Fully 80% of the game was played in the Summerville defensive half of the field. JI's four goals (2 in each half) were on beautiful hard crossing passes and each goal was high quality. Lisa Frawley, Kelly Gosnell, and Elyse Clark (2 goals) scored for the Trojans and 2 additional goals were called back for, to my eye, questionable off side calls.
The Greenwave was not without an offensive effort, moving the ball at times through the middle of the field before giving it up to the JI back line of Kelsey Riggs, Staci Ulichnie and Catherine Deden. Chelsea Terry (12), off an injury I am told, sat out the first 30 minutes of the game before coming in at stopper and providing even more speed and ball control in the the JI backfield. JI played Cortney Lasseter and Ashley Ingles, usually 2 of their starting back line, in mid and this seemed to pay off in terms of ball control without, at least tonight, giving up anything in the back.
This was not a case of a good team crushing a weak team. Summerville played well, but just couldn't overcome the swarming defense, fast back line, and explosive offense of the JI forwards. I think this is the best team play I have seen since the '02 Wando squad or the '03 Mauldin team.
JI weaknesses: none. OK, they didn't clear the ball as cleanly as they should have in corner kicks. How do you beat JI? You put together exceptional and unexpected offensive plays that catch them off guard combined with stellar defense. Go practice that...
lpaf
