And upper state 1A/2A.... from Greenville news online

Cavs make it three in a row
BY MYRON HOSEA • CONTRIBUTING WRITER • PUBLISHED: MAY 17. 2011 2:00AM

Two first-half goals and a stout second-half defense propelled Christ Church's girls' soccer team to a 2-0 victory over Woodruff and a third-straight Class AA Upper State title Monday.




The win gives the Cavaliers another opportunity to bring home the AA state championship as they play at Memorial Stadium in Columbia Friday.

“Another shot,” Christ Church coach Chris Nichols said. “We really wanted it for our senior. Alyssa (Althoff) was instrumental in getting us here. She's always out there coaching on the field, so for her to get that last chance to get herself a state title is great.”

Althoff was instrumental in the Cavaliers' Upper State win. She picked up an assist on the first goal, which was an own goal as the ball got past the Woodruff goalkeeper and then glanced off another Wolverine and into the goal just two minutes into the game.

Christ Church kept pressure on Woodruff throughout the first half, keeping the ball in front of the Wolverine goal most of that time.

The Cavaliers couldn't get the ball in the net, however, until 13:50 in the first half. That's when Althoff scored a goal on a corner kick from Sloan Renfro.

“She and Meaghan Carrigan have been our go-to players all season,” Nichols said. “We have a strong periphery of players around them. She's just really kind of brought some of these girls along.”

In the second half, it was the Wolverines putting on the pressure. In one key stretch around the 28th minute, the Cavaliers had to fight off three corner kicks.

“You can contribute that (pressure) to how hard they played in the second half,” Nichols said of Woodruff. “They were putting a little more pressure on the ball.”

The Upper State representative has been one of these two teams for five straight years (Christ Church now three in a row, Woodruff the two years previous). The Cavaliers will now see if they can break the 10-year string of Lower State teams winning the state.