I made the trip down with my son on Saturday. Congrats to all the teams and the USC venue is outstanding!
Class A
Pretty even match. Asian player for CCES is good. #14 played pretty well. AMHS is a big team, very tall. Both squads have good keepers. Tough way to decide a match on PKs.
Class AA
Mismatch. Not even close. I didn't know what to expect from EHS, but is the Upper State that weak in AA? I saw EHS play Lexington at the Palmetto Cup and that was a rout. So was this one. Looks like BE can chalk up the next 3-4 years for titles if this is the best to come out of the upstate.
Class AAA
This was the one I wanted to see since Eastside was edged by Riverside. Two even teams, Chapin and RHS. Good keepers on both sides. I thought Aaron Peter was excellent for RHS and that Matt Sluga was probably the best player on the field. Not much attack by either side, but that's a compliment for both teams' midfields. Andrew Kocis played pretty strong as well. Where was Joey Demare? I didn't know he was on the field until he got carded in overtime. #5 for CHS impressed me as did #18. Again, PKs are a tough way to decide the outcome, but Chapin was working on borrowed time (OT vs. NMB and PKs vs. BC). Amazing what RHS has done in high school soccer!
Class AAAA
Thought this would be another OT type contest. But, Northwestern was all over Spring Valley for 80 minutes. Really can't believe the scoreline was just 2-0. Physical match but not dirty at all. #17 for NHS is impressive and Enzo might be the best player I've ever seen (definitely is for his age). I liked #3 and #7 as well for NHS. SVHS is huge physically and after playing them at Palmetto Cup thought they were the best team in the state, but I tip my hat to NHS.
Great day. Ate lots of hot dogs and starburst and drank plenty of Gatorade and water. Went down for pizza at halftime of AAAA game, but line was way too long. Otherwise a "super Saturday".
