Wando, James Island and West Ashley:
That Wando and WA would play to a third PK situatation this season is indicative of the overall equality of their play over the last four years. Great rivalries in Region 7 have helped each of the three R7 leaders (JI, Wando, WA) to improve the quality of their teams. We will see more of this in Tuesday night's Lower State Championship game between JI (#2 Seed R7) and visiting team West Ashley (#3 Seed R7).
West Ashley come into this 4th stop on their "Doin' It the Hard WAy Tour '05" after a series of three bruising 1 goal games that have included one regulation match, one OT victory, and one victory in pk's. 290 minutes of soccer play + pk's, squeaking by via a single goal on each occasion. They will enter the James Island stadium as underdogs (#4 vs #3 state wide, and Region 7 #3 seed vs #1 seed) on Tuesday night. This is OK, God meant it this way or it wouldn't be this way.
They will also enter into play as two teams comprised of sisters of sorts. For those not familiar with Charleston Club soccer, the dominant girls team over the last 5 years was CUSC (formerly CGSA) Fusion. Three state championships and solid regional appearances over the last 5 years. Much of the development of this talent can be credited to Andy Grist, their head coach during that period and the extraordinary assemblage of talent that occured when a core of JI girls defected to CGSA many years ago to seek the best coaching and club structure available. A roughly equal amount of this talent flowed from Fusion (the balance was in favor of JI 'til Erica Carson had to stop playing) to both WA and JI and few opposing teams know each other better.
When this group of exceptional talent hit the 9th grade level in 2002, the balance of 4A HS girls soccer shifted suddenly in the state, with 3 consecutive R7 state victories (WA 2, Wando 1). Tuesday's Lower State Final will match WA and JI, in their first such meeting for the Lower State crown, with each team featuring at its core the best of Grist's CGSA Fusion team. On balance, after having watched these teams play all season long, I feel the team play of JI plus its true impact players (Frawley, Gosnell, Lassiter, Terry) bring a slight advantage to that team. West Ashley, however has shown continuous improvement over the course of the season and avoided last year's pitfall of peaking too early. WA has three, and sometimes four, of the absolute best players in the state. The real question is the following: Will the impact forwards and defenders of JI, coupled with their excellent fundamentals prevail, on their home turf, over the Wildcats of WA. Or, will WA's players rise above themselves and find a higher level of play? Time will tell, and the team that wants it the most will go to Columbia next Friday.
lpaf
ps: Has Mauldin already conceded to Fort Mill or are they actually going to play the Up State Finals match on Tuesday?
