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Congratulations to Ron Johnson and Aiken for an outstanding comeback vs James Island(down 3-0 and finished 3-2 and almost tied it up several times) and also finishing strong vs Fort Mill to conclude the tournament with a tie.

W&E also seems to have SA playing very well and had a strong showing at the tournament.

Aiken girls played great, Susan Payne was fantastic scoring both goals against FM, the last one with about a minute to play (and 30 seconds after FM went up 2-1).

Hey Folks,

I want to jump in real quick to tell my girls what a great job they did this time around at The Cup! They achieved their first win and their first trip to the winners bracket to complement their play.

Congratulations Ladies- you have come a long way in just two short years, I’m looking forward to a great season in '08!

While I’m at it- congratulations to all the teams and young ladies who played/are playing this year. All the way around it seemed like another classy, competitive, and well played tournament.

Thanks to Steve and his crowd as well (including Mrs. Draper for putting up with the constant changing of the T-shirt order) for the invitation and another great tournament!

Job well done sir!

tk

Steve, I know you were stressing Thursday, but all went well and everyone I talked to was well pleased - as always!

While everyone is offering congratulations... (and I'm up late working to recover time spent attending the Viking Cup...)

To me, the story so far has been the strength of the 3-A teams EXCLUDING the traditional 3-A powerhouses of Riverside and Eastside.

Among the upsets of the tournament so far had to be Dreher beating Mauldin (1-0) and J.L. Mann beating Dorman (3-1.) Dreher was ranked #8 in 3-A and J.L. Mann was ranked #10.

I think that Airport clearly showed it's one of the top programs in the state. Winning against 4-A Summerville and Wren and losing a heartbreaker on PKs to Irmo demonstrated that this team is going to be very, very strong this year. I know it's early and anything can happen, but I think Airport is a strong contender for the state finals and is much stronger than their current #7 ranking in the state.

Chico, you are right about the upsets and the surprising strength of the non-traditional 3A teams. Eastside and Riverside are always strong, JL Mann played great this weekend, Dreher is gutty and you like Airport.

I'll go out on a limb and take Hilton Head Island to win the 3A state championship. Although their region is not as competitive and they won't get tested as much as the others during the regular season, they are a very, very good team.

Hilton Head did not have the same energy on Saturday morning that they displayed in their victory Friday night, but they still dominated the game against Byrnes. They made the mistake of letting Byrnes hang around a little too long and paid the price, falling on PK's. HHI's Stephanie Sosa was the best player I saw this weekend (although I didn't see any Lex games where Kira Campbell piled up a bunch of goals and assists).

Early season COY candidates: JL Mann's Gwynne Armstrong (a proven winner) and Kingsley Emerson of Byrnes. They both did a fantastic job getting their teams into the Final 4.

Bracket D: Loaded with preseason favorites Dutch Fork, Mauldin, Fort Mill and Hilton Head Island....and the two teams that played for the group championship were Dreher and Byrnes! Has parity arrived? The Dorman girls basketball team has won the 4A upper state championship six years in a row! How many different upperstate schools have made it to the 4A state girls soccer state championship game in the last six years? I'm glad it's wide open in our game.

Having said that, this afternoon we could be looking at the "same old same old". Two 4A heavyweights, #1 Wando and #2 Lexington battling it out for the Viking Cup title.

Good tournament.

I FINALLY got to see what all the noise about #9 was about in person for an entire game. Congrats to USC on netting a great player and good luck to all the teams competing today.

1. General Rules
c. No match may end in a tie.
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Excluding tourneys. Found that out at the winter clinic.