SC Soccer Forums SCSoccer.com Forums Girls Varsity Soccer 2007 Taco Bell Viking Cup

The 2007 Taco Bell Viking Cup will be hosted by Spring Valley HS February 22-25 in Columbia.

This is a slight change from years past as this prestigious event has been moved from the traditional weekend (the week before) and allows some of the smaller schools to participate since most basketball players will have completed their seasons.

For more information concerning this girls tournament, please contact Steve Lea at slea@svh.richland2.org.

The brackets for the 2007 Taco Bell Viking Cup have been released. The dates for this annual event are February 22-25 on the campus of Spring Valley High School in Columbia.

The 32 participating teams include: Academic Magnet; Aiken; Airport; Ben Lippen; Bishop England; Blythewood; Brookland-Cayce; Chapin; Dorman; Dreher; Dutch Fork; Eastside; A.C. Flora; Fort Mill; T.L. Hanna; Hilton Head; Irmo; James Island; Lexington; Mauldin; Myrtle Beach; Northwestern; Richland Northeast; Ridge View; Riverside; South Aiken; Spartanburg; Spring Valley; Summerville; Wando; West Ashley; and Wren.

Breakdown by classification
4A (19) -- Aiken, Dorman, Dutch Fork, Fort Mill, T.L. Hanna, Irmo, James Island, Lexington, Mauldin, Northwestern, Richland Northeast, Ridge View, South Aiken, Spartanburg, Spring Valley, Summerville, Wando, West Ashley, Wren
3A (10) -- Airport, Blythewood, Brookland-Cayce, Chapin, Dreher, Eastside, A.C. Flora, Hilton Head, Myrtle Beach, Riverside
2A (1) -- Bishop England
1A (1) -- Academic Magnet
SCISA (1) -- Ben Lippen

Fields
HP = Harry Parone Stadium on SVHS Campus
N1 = First field behind church across street
N2 = Second field behind church across street
SV1 = First soccer field behind SVHS
SV2 = Second soccer field behind SVHS

***Note -- the team listed first will wear white or light jersey and the team listed last will wear a dark jersey.

Bracket A
A1 -- 2/23 @ 5:30 pm @ SV1, Wando vs. Spartanburg
A2 -- 2/22 @ 7:00 pm @ SV2, Dreher vs. Dutch Fork
A3 -- 2/23 @ 7:00 pm @ SV2, Academic Magnet vs. Riverside
A4 -- 2/22 @ 5:30 pm @ SV2, Aiken vs. Brookland-Cayce
A5 -- 2/24 @ 8:00 am @ HP, Winner A1 vs. Winner A2
A6 -- 2/24 @ 8:00 am @ SV1, Winner A3 vs. Winner A4
A7 -- 2/24 @ 12:30 pm @ SV1, Winner A5 vs. Winner A6
(Winner is Champion of Bracket A and will play Bracket B Champion at HP on Sunday at 9:00 a.m., with the A/B Winner advancing to Championship at 1:00 p.m., on Sunday at SV1)
A8 -- 2/24 @ 8:00 am @ N1, Loser A1 vs. Loser A2
A9 -- 2/24 @ 8:00 am @ N2, Loser A3 vs. Loser A4
A10 -- 2/24 @ 12:30 pm @ N2, Loser A5 vs. Winner A9
A11 -- 2/24 @ 12:30 pm @ SV2, Loser A6 vs. Winner A8
A12 -- 2/24 @ 12:30 pm @ HP, Loser A8 vs. Loser A9

Bracket B
B1 -- 2/22 @ 7:00 pm @ SV1, Ben Lippen vs. Richland Northeast
B2 -- 2/23 @ 5:30 pm @ SV2, Summerville vs. Northwestern
B3 -- 2/23 @ 8:30 pm @ SV2, West Ashley vs. Mauldin
B4 -- 2/22 @ 8:30 pm @ SV2, Blythewood vs. Lexington
B5 -- 2/24 @ 9:30 am @ HP, Winner B1 vs. Winner B2
B6 -- 2/24 @ 9:30 am @ N2, Winner B3 vs. Winner B4
B7 -- 2/24 @ 2:00 pm @ HP, Winner B5 vs. Winner B6
(Winner is Champion of Bracket B and will play Bracket A Champion at HP on Sunday at 9:00 a.m., with the A/B Winner advancing to Championship at 1:00 p.m., on Sunday at SV1)
B8 -- 2/24 @ 9:30 am @ SV2, Loser B1 vs. Loser B2
B9 -- 2/24 @ 8:00 am @ SV2, Loser B3 vs. Loser B4
B10 -- 2/24 @ 2:00 pm @ SV2, Loser B5 vs. Winner B9
B11 -- 2/24 @ 2:00 pm @ N1, Loser B6 vs. Winner B8
B12 -- 2/24 @ 2:00 pm @ N2, Loser B8 vs. Loser B9

Bracket C
C1 -- 2/23 @ 7:00 pm @ SV1, James Island vs. Airport
C2 -- 2/23 @ 8:30 pm @ SV1, Eastside vs. Hilton Head
C3 -- 2/22 @ 5:30 pm @ SV1, A.C. Flora vs. Spring Valley
C4 -- 2/23 @ 8:30 pm @ HP, South Aiken vs. T.L. Hanna
C5 -- 2/24 @ 9:30 am @ N1, Winner C1 vs. Winner C2
C6 -- 2/24 @ 9:30 am @ SV1, Winner C3 vs. Winner C4
C7 -- 2/24 @ 2:00 pm @ SV1, Winner C5 vs. Winner C6
(Winner is Champion of Bracket C and will play Bracket D Champion at SV1 on Sunday at 9:00 a.m., with the C/D Winner advancing to Championship at 1:00 p.m., on Sunday at SV1)
C8 -- 2/24 @ 11:00 am @ SV2, Loser C1 vs. Loser C2
C9 -- 2/24 @ 11:00 am @ N1, Loser C3 vs. Loser C4
C10 -- 2/24 @ 3:30 pm @ HP, Loser C5 vs. Winner C9
C11 -- 2/24 @ 3:30 pm @ N1, Loser C6 vs. Winner C8
C12 -- 2/24 @ 3:30 pm @ SV2, Loser C8 vs. Loser C9

Bracket D
D1 -- 2/23 @ 5:30 pm @ HP, Irmo vs. Myrtle Beach
D2 -- 2/23 @ 5:00 pm @ N1, Fort Mill vs. Wren
D3 -- 2/23 @ 7:00 pm @ HP, Bishop England vs. Dorman
D4 -- 2/22 @ 8:30 pm @ SV1, Chapin vs. Ridge View
D5 -- 2/24 @ 11:00 am @ SV1, Winner D1 vs. Winner D2
D6 -- 2/24 @ 11:00 am @ HP, Winner D3 vs. Winner D4
D7 -- 2/24 @ 3:30 pm @ SV1, Winner D5 vs. Winner D6
(Winner is Champion of Bracket D and will play Bracket C Champion at SV1 on Sunday at 9:00 a.m., with the C/D Winner advancing to Championship at 1:00 p.m., on Sunday at SV1)
D8 -- 2/24 @ 12:30 pm @ N1, Loser D1 vs. Loser D2
D9 -- 2/24 @ 11:00 am @ N2, Loser D3 vs. Loser D4
D10 -- 2/24 @ 3:30 pm @ N2, Loser D5 vs. Winner D9
D11 -- 2/24 @ 5:00 pm @ SV2, Loser D6 vs. Winner D8
D12 -- 2/24 @ 5:00 pm @ SV1, Loser D8 vs. Loser D9

Interesting.

Bracket D has to be the Group of Death with last season's 4A finalists Irmo and Dorman, plus perennial power Fort Mill.

Best first-round matchup: West Ashley vs. Mauldin. I'm sure those two teams are thrilled about seeing eachother right out of the gate.

Great field......always a tremendous tournament. Hope everybody has their basketball players back before this thing kicks off.

Based on the preseason rankings, Bracket C could be the easiest. 4A #9, #10, #11 and 3A #2, #4, #5 and #11. Eastside and Spring Valley seem to have great shots at making it to the Final 4.

Predictions for this weekend?

Lexington will take it all!

I'd make Lex the favorite as well. Their second game of the tournament is definitely one to watch as they get the winner of Mauldin-WA.

I predict that Riverside & Eastside reach the finals with EASTSIDE winning it all.

Sleeper teams are HH, Aiken, & FM.

Good luck to all. Looks like weather will be nice.


--------------------------------
FROM ONE WHO KNOWS THAT NOBODY KNOWS!

Six big games to get things started tonight!

2/22 @ 5:30 pm @ SV2, Aiken vs. Brookland-Cayce

2/22 @ 7:00 pm @ SV1, Ben Lippen vs. Richland Northeast

2/22 @ 7:00 pm @ SV2, Dreher vs. Dutch Fork

2/22 @ 8:30 pm @ SV2, Blythewood vs. Lexington

2/22 @ 5:30 pm @ SV1, A.C. Flora vs. Spring Valley

2/22 @ 8:30 pm @ SV1, Chapin vs. Ridge View

Predictions....

Aiken over BC
RNE over BL
DF over Dreher
Lex over Blythewood
SV over AC
RV over Chapin

or... who knows??

Brookland-Cayce over Aiken
Chapin over Ridge View
Dutch Fork over Dreher
Lexington over Blythewood
Richland Northeast over Ben Lippen
Spring Valley over A.C. Flora

any early scores yet?

DF 2 Dreher 1
Aiken 3 BC 2
ACF 2 SV 1

i think these are correct

Aiken 3:2 Brookland-Cayce
Dreher 1:2 Dutch Fork
Ben Lippen 2:1 Richland Northeast
Blythewood 0:9 Lexington
AC Flora 2:1 Spring Valley
Chapin 0:1 Ridge View

I know scores can be deceiving but it is great to see that five out of the six matches were one-goal games. Great start to the tournament.

Great comeback by Aiken:
http://www.thestate.com/mld/thestate/sports/high_school/16762141.htm

T.L. Hanna 0
South AIken 52

I saw it in a dream...

W&E,

You need to go easy on the Taco's before bedtime. Good Luck I hope to catch some of your game tonight.

It looks like Lex is the front runner right now. 9-0 wow?

I think the Taco Bell Rats can take down the Lady Wildcats-
http://video.msn.com/v/us/msnbc.htm?g=43b6a6f9-d969-475e-9408-51431fae65bb&f=00&fg=email

Yo quiero Mickey Mouse! I'm sure those rodents are on the KFC side of the building!

Tonights Games...

2/23 @ 5:30 pm @ SV1, Wando vs. Spartanburg
2/23 @ 7:00 pm @ SV2, Academic Magnet vs. Riverside
2/23 @ 5:30 pm @ SV2, Summerville vs. Northwestern
2/23 @ 8:30 pm @ SV2, West Ashley vs. Mauldin
2/23 @ 7:00 pm @ SV1, James Island vs. Airport
2/23 @ 8:30 pm @ SV1, Eastside vs. Hilton Head
2/23 @ 8:30 pm @ HP, South Aiken vs. T.L. Hanna
2/23 @ 5:30 pm @ HP, Irmo vs. Myrtle Beach
2/23 @ 5:00 pm @ N1, Fort Mill vs. Wren
2/23 @ 7:00 pm @ HP, Bishop England vs. Dorman

OK lets see...

Wando over Spartanburg
Riverside over Academic Magnet
Summerville over Northwestern - (Toss up)
Mauldin over West Ashley - (sorry LPAF)
James Island over Airport - (Toss up)
Eastside over Hilton Head
T.L.Hanna over South Aiken - (could be an upset here but I have to take TLH)
Irmo over Myrtle Beach
Fort Mill over Wren
Bishop England over Dorman

Many good games tonight.

I know Spartanburg beat Wando

what else is happnin'?

Airport - 1
James Island - 0

Spartanburg score?

They won in PKs over Wando. Dont know exact score of PKs.

Fort Mill 2
Wren 1

Very good game. As expected, Hannah Gmerek was a handful.

anything about Eastside and Hilton Head?

Wando 0 Spartanburg 1
Academic Magnet 0 Riverside 5 or 6
Summerville 2 Northwestern 1
West Ashley vs. Mauldin
James Island 0 Airport 1
Eastside vs. Hilton Head
South Aiken vs. T.L. Hanna
Irmo 1 Myrtle Beach 0
Fort Mill 2 Wren 1
Bishop England 1 Dorman 3

Hanna 3 South Aiken 0

Two evenly matched teams squared off, but Hanna finished their opportunities. Shots were about equal and each team had their run of play. Two goals scored by Caitlin Robinson and the other by Taylor Craft. Shutout held by GK Kendall Maxwell.

S.A. coach is new this year, but a class act and fantastic guy to talk to.

Eastside 2 HH 0

Mauldin 0 West Ashley 0 (Mauldin 3 West Ashley 2 in PK's)

Mauldin had many chances to score, but could not find the back of the net. WA has two very fast forwards that kept Mauldin back line busy all night. A tough game for both teams. Now Mauldin must play a rested Lex team today.

heard that eastside tucked 2 away extremely early in the match...any other news?

Hanna 1
Flora 0

Caitlin Robinson scores with 3 minutes remaining.

Lexington 2
Summerville 1
Very good Summerville team. Lex needs to play better tomorrow against Riverside to have a chance.

Eastside 1
Hanna 0

Will play winner of Irmo vs. Dorman (still playing)

Airport - 3
South Aiken - 2

SEMIFINALS @ 9:00 a.m.
Dorman vs. Eastside (SVHS First Soccer Field)
Lexington vs. Riverside (Harry Parone Stadium)

CHAMPIONSHIP @ 1:00 p.m.
Semifinal Winners (SVHS First Soccer Field)

2nd round:
Fort Mill 1
Irmo 1
Irmo advances on PKs 4-2

3rd round:
Fort Mill 0
Bishop England 0

Just wanted to add a few reflections from Hanna's first trip to Viking Cup under W&E. Everybody was great and its exciting to be there and play the best, watch the best, and see some of you that we converse with here on the boards. We are extremely proud of our girls' showing and their grit. W&E won't tell you, but we had three girls out for this tournament and three others playing with significant injuries. The girls did not use it as an excuse and we got maximum effort from everyone. As might be expected, we played our best ball against South Aiken last night, played pretty good this morning, and just tried to hang in there with Eastside. Eastside is a very good and disciplined team. The center mid (name escapes me, but she is #17) is amazing through the middle. They are so active that we would count the players out there every so often to make sure there were only 11. Unfortunately, in the end we did not have the legs to mount much offense, but we managed to stay strong in the back and finish with a decent score. Congratulations to Eastside and I definitely would not bet against them tomorrow!

Airport 0 Eastside 1
Airport 3 South Aiken 2

Ben Lippen 0 Summerville 3
Ben Lippen 3 West Ashley 2

BL finishes first trip to Cup at 2-1

Observations:
Again, congrats to Steve and SV for running the best high school tournament (of any sport) in the state of South Carolina. Location and facilities are first-class.

Nice to finally meet W&E after two years of trading barbs over this message board. Best of luck to TL Hanna and it looks like OE may be guiding the Jackets ship, temporarily, as W&E takes care of more important business.

I did a lousy job of spectating this year as I just realized that, over Friday night and all day Saturday, I never got to see any of the Final 4 teams play????? I did see FM, NW, Wren, Irmo, BE, JI, HH, RNE, TLH, ACF & Blythewood. Irmo was probably the best of that bunch.

Most exciting moment of the tournament (to date)? How about Nicole Bainbridge's goal with less than 5 seconds to play which gave Fort Mill a 1-1 draw with Irmo. Irmo advanced on PK's.

Best of luck to the four teams still alive.

I'd have to say that the fact that the #1 and #2 teams in both 4A and 3A being the final 4 teams in this tournament gives a lot of credability to the preseason rankings. Good job by this message board and the Heise's in determining those rankings.
As usual a very well run tournament with quality teams. Now once again someone will get to test the infamous "Taco Bell Curse". Maybe this will be the year "The Curse" is broken!!!

Raining on the tournament this morn?

I got to meet Hurst (he signed my program), BenP (he red carded me) and the Real McCoy (the strong, silent type). I also got to meet some jerk named Josef Lorenz. He was speaking some nonsense about how Kahn should have started over Lens in WC2006, but I just wasn't hearing it.

The tournament is a massive undertaking. If you haven't ever hosted your own tournament, you might not be able to appreciate what is going on around you and the stress involved (missing officials, withdrawing teams, late matches). It's kind of like showing up for a wedding. 8 months of planning for a five hour gig. Well done Steve and all those involved!

Riverside vs. Eastside in finals.
Both semi-finals went to OT.
No rain yet.

Any further details on semis?

Scores? Both won in OT, or PKs?

Both matches were 1-0 (OT) decisions. Championship is set for 1 o'clock between Class 3A, Region 2 arch-rivals #2 Eastside and #1 Riverside.

CHAMPIONSHIP
Riverside 2-1 (PK) Eastside

Did the match go to PK's or was Eastside's lone goal a penalty?

Penalty Kick Shootout.

Congratulations to Spring Valley on a great tournament!


Is the reason for the two referee system at the Viking Cup purely the cost of the 3rd referee? I believe most teams would be willing to pay the cost for a 3rd referee. A 3rd official may have prevented the 3 red cards in the MB vs Wren game. I like to hear everybody thoughts.

I didn't see the match but I will speculate that better behavior by the players may have prevented the three red cards in the Wren-MB game?

Also, refs were probably at a premium since there were club matches all weekend as well.

Anyone know the details of the MB-Wren fisticuffs? I heard they had to call the game because of it.

Hurst,

You are absolutely correct that better behavior by the players could have prevented these red cards. Who is going to step up and require the players to embrace sportsmanship? The coaches, parents, or referee? When I played many years ago the coaches didn't tolerate this behavior and you were removed from the team.

NP,
Two players holding, pushing, kicking at each other after the ball is by them. The game was called but I believe the time had expired.

Hurst66

I wasn't there, and your point is excellent. We could add the responsibility of the coaches as well.

BUT high school refs are also to blame for the highly physical and dangerous play at the high school level.

Compared to club, there is a great disparity in skill and knowledge of the game by the players, coaches, and fans. Matches are often far too physical in terms of ILLEGAL contact while much of the appropriate contact is whistled.

At the Easley tournament, our Friday match involved refs who whistled EVERY fall on the field. Saturday included one ref who allowed repeated body blocks in the box with no effort to play the ball (this often comes when teams are mismatched and refs begin to "help" the weaker team).

Refs need to consider safety and also help educate players, coaches, and fans. That would benefit us all in SC soccer.

This does NOT excuse fighting, etc, by players. They know better.

Good points P&Y but I've seen refs allow high-level club games to get very physical as well.

I agree about high level club—especially guys.

BUT I would argue (and I guess I am here) that when players are essentially equal in skill and knowledge of the game (more likely at the club level), the potential for injury and escalation are lower (but not absent). High school is unique because of the great disparities in skill and knowledge.

I know all the players on Eastside and Riverside who play club, and would suggest that that match is atypical of high school soccer because of the relatively level skill and knowledge of the players.

When teams are mismatched and refs are careless—dangerous!

Where can you find the all tournament team? thanks

If they red carded three players, weren't they doing their job? No offense to the kids, parents, or coaches, but you have to be doing something pretty stupid to get a red card (I would know). I'm not sure that three refs are going to prevent stupid behavior anymore than two officials. You see a foul, you call it. If the girl you fouled is mad, she is going to get even. Ref calls it again. The third time the emotions get the best of them and it's time to buy a ticket for the stands. I wouldn't pay for three refs.

W&E—

I have always advocated 3 refs, but you have given me pause. Wonder if anyone anywhere has some stats on cards per match in 2-person v. 3-person ref'd matches? Might be worth consideration as we debate how many refs we need and should pay for in SC.

And could SC experiment with this concept in the Viking Cup next year? Some 2-person, some 3-person ref'd matches and have eval forms for coaches and compare?

I think 3 refs helps with offsides and blind spot calls (behind the center ref). I prefer 2 refs during big matches because I have 2 men right in the middle of the carnage on both sides of the field instead of one chasing things down. Personal preference, I'm sure, for one could surely rationalize that 6 eyes are better than 4. I just prefer for my eyes to be in the middle of the fight.

All,

In the MB vs Wren game the 2 refs were back near the goal most of the game checking for offsides calls (the defenders were not pushing up). This left a large area in the middle of the field far from the refs. The incident started and finished near mid-field. Maybe in this case the 3 refs systems would have helped. I noticed in other HS games with 2 refs the refs are out of position due to the speed of the players.

True, but if the fans can see things, then officials can as well. I wasn't there, so what do I know?

Refs aside, how can we get the all-tournament team posted?

PM me, I've got it. I don't know if they want it posted for whatever reason.

Anyone have any idea when the all-tournament team will be posted?

The 2007 Taco Bell Viking Cup All-Tournament Team was selected from amongst the 32 teams participating. The following players have been named to this group:

Coaches - If (a) your player was inadvertently left off the list; (b) you did not contact me with your nomination; or (c) I have spelled a name incorrectly or have made some other error -- contact me ASAP and I will forward the information.

ASHLEY NICOLE DENT SENIOR MVP SCHOLARSHIP WINNER ($1,000 funded by Taco Bell)
Sarah Delap, Riverside

ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM
Renee Ballew, Riverside
Lydia Calvage, Riverside
Sarah Delap, Riverside
Sarah Jacobs, Riverside
Emily Davis, Eastside
Abby Martin, Eastside
Brently Roberts, Eastside
Nathalie Emplit, Dorman
Alix Zongrone, Dorman
Kira Campbell, Lexington
Alicia Keel, Lexington
Amy Moore, AC Flora
Hannah Harvell, Academic Magnet
Breann Staubs, Aiken
Brittany Holcombe, Airport
Jenni Osman, Ben Lippen
Erin Reifeis, Bishop England
Alexis Allen, Blythewood
Randall Dominguez, Brookland-Cayce
Oleva Durant, Chapin
Brittany Rush, Dreher
Anna Dilworth, Dutch Fork
Nicole Bainbridge, Fort Mill
Lindsey Taylor, Hilton Head
Kristen Werdunn, Irmo
Emily Schaidle, Mauldin
Gina Sylvestri, Myrtle Beach
Tiana Tallant, Northwestern
Tenley Desjardins, Richland Northeast
Nina Platenburg, Ridge View
Tricia Okawa, South Aiken
Claire Hodge, Spartanburg
Kitty Tryon, Spring Valley
Brittany Bowers, Summerville
Caitlin Robinson, TL Hanna
Olivia Urig, Wando
Kayce Seifert, West Ashley
Taylor Murphy, Wren