North's Cogburn Caps Career With 2-Goal Game
BY PHILIP M. BOWMAN
The Post and Courier

Last month, he led Emerald to the Class AA state soccer championship. On Saturday, A.C. Cogburn led the North to a 4-1 victory over the South in the 16th annual Home Depot Soccer Classic at Bishop England's Jack Cantey Stadium.

Cogburn capped a fabulous high school career with a pair of goals only 70 seconds apart to build the North's lead from 1-0 to 3-0 as they took a 10-4-2 lead in the series.

Scoring goals is nothing new to Cogburn, who will attend Clemson but not play soccer. He owns the Emerald school record for goals in a season (50) and career (138). The all-state selection also fares well in the classroom. He was senior class president, a member of the National Honor Society and an A student.

He plans to major in chemistry at Clemson and then go the pre-med route.

"It was a great opportunity to play here today," Cogburn said. "This is my last match competitively and it was a lot of fun to play with the best players in the state."

Bryan Padgett of Class AAA state champ Greenville gave the North a 1-0 lead with a goal at the 21:23 mark. Cogburn scored on a penalty kick at 27:15, and added his second goal 70 seconds later. He assisted Mauldin striker Luis Arrieta's goal at the 31:00 mark to give the North a 4-0 lead.

The South finally got on the board at the 36:40 mark when Academic Magnet's Luis Pelaez scored on a shot from 12 yards.

Cogburn wasted little time when he was asked about his most memorable goal. It came against Bishop England in the state championship match. Emerald posted a 2-1 overtime victory.

Bishop England goalkeeper Andrew Haley was attempting to kick the ball away from 20 yards out when Cogburn rushed up at the last second and deflected the kick with his face and it landed in the open goal.

"It bounced in before he could get to it," Cogburn said. "I won't forget it."

http://www.charleston.net/stories/060604/his_06_boys.shtml

South Stages Surprising Win
BY PHILIP M. BOWMAN
The Post and Courier

Some soccer observers predicted the North girls would pick up a lopsided victory over the South Saturday in the eighth annual Home Depot Soccer Classic.

Well, it was lopsided all right. But it was the South that picked up an easy win. The South jumped to a 4-0 lead and went on to gain a 4-2 victory at Bishop England's Jack Cantey Stadium. The South victory evened the series at four games apiece.

Dreher midfielder Kate Heilich scored the first goal of the match at the 18:46 mark. After that, players from the Lowcountry took over. In fact, the North's only goal in the first half was scored by a player from the Charleston area who transferred to Spring Valley for her senior year: Demetria Gibbs. Gibbs played for West Ashley before moving to the Midlands and helped the Wildcats win state titles in 2002 and '03.

Kate Gosnell of Class AA state champ Bishop England scored the South's second goal of the match. She scored on a penalty kick at the 28:27 mark. The penalty kick was set up when Stratford's Kristi Lord was clipped by Gibbs.

Lord's identical twin, Allison, scored at the 30:55 mark to make it 3-0. She took the ball from 14 yards out and scored on a chip shot.

Dutch Fork striker Jill Karelitz made it 4-0 with a goal at the 32:36 mark.

Gibb's score was about the only bright spot for the North in the first half. The South held a 9-4 advantage in shots and 4-0 margin in corner kicks.

The final goal of the match came at the 75:34 mark as Clover's Chance Heflin scored on an assist from Gibbs.

The South finished with an 11-8 advantage in shots and a 6-1 margin in corner kicks.

It was the final high school match for the 38 girls who played in the game.

The Lord sisters both will attend Columbia College. Allison said the all-star match was a good experience, adding, "It was more fun because you could trust every player out here. You could have confidence in all the players you passed the ball too, not just a few. There were some talented players out there."

That included Gibbs, the former West Ashley star, who was playing in her first match in the Lowcountry since moving.

"It felt good today, but it was kind of hot," Gibbs said. "It felt like I was back home, and it was good to be home. It was hard to move for my senior year, but it was good for me academically. But I missed the soccer side of it."

http://www.charleston.net/stories/060604/his_06_girls.shtml

South Girls North Boys Win Home Depot All-Star Soccer Classic
BY TIM SINGLETON
High School Sports Report

Charleston - The South girls and North boys opened up 4-0 leads and held on for wins over their counterparts at the Home Depot North South All-star Soccer games held on the campus of Bishop England.

Scoring goals for the South girls squad were Katie Heilich (Dreher), Katie Gosnell (Bishop England), Allison Lord (Stratford) and Jill Karelitz (Dutch Fork). The North squad answered with two goals. One off the foot of Demetria Gibbs (Spring Valley) and another from USC signee Chance Heflin (Clover). The games ended in a 4-2 scored with the South tying the all-time series at 4-4.

In the boys game, Bryan Padgett (Greenville) opened the scoring followed by two goals from A.C. Cogburn (Emerald) to lead the North squad. Mauldin's Luis Arrieta closed out the scoring for blue clad North squad. The South got on the board in the second half when Academic Magnet's Luis Paleaz found the back of the net.

For Padgett and Cogburn, the goals were a fitting way to close out stellar careers just two weeks after the duo led their high school teams to state titles.

"I was happy to get the goal," said Padgett. "I should have had a couple more but I'm happy with the one. It's a great way to close out my high school career."

Padgett was the HSSR AAA Player of the Year and Cogburn was named the HSSR AA Player of the Year.