Nice update on the Fire's win vs. the Chicago Sockers on Thursday from the Aiken Standard.

Aiken Fire Still Lit in Nationals

GERMANTOWN, Md. - Eric Baafour scored two goals and Jordan Gilbert added another as the Aiken Fire defeated the Sockers FC from Chicago 3-1 in the second game of round robin play in the Under-15 division of the U.S. Youth Soccer National Championships.

With the win, Aiken, 1-1 in the event, now needs a win versus Palos Verdes (Calif.) today and a Rochester (N.Y.) Junior Rhinos Elite victory or tie to make Sunday's finals. Palos Verdes is 0-2, but played Rochester much closer than Aiken did on Wednesday.

In that game, Aiken fell behind 3-0 at the half and wound up losing 6-2. Should Aiken make the final, it would meet the team from Rochester again.

Against the Sockers FC, Aiken needed about 16 minutes to score its first goal. Jonathan Berry won a header in the box and got it over to Baafour, who finished it for a 1-0 Aiken lead.
Five minutes later, Jordan Gilbert came from the defensive end to smash one in and make it 2-0.
Baafour added a goal from 25 yards out in the second half to make it 3-0 before Sockers FC scored its only goal.

The 48 boys and girls teams in age groups Under-14 through Under-19 will complete round-robin play today. The top two teams in each age group as determined by points qualify for the finals on Sunday.

The Fire is the only team from South Carolina in the tournament.