I agree that Irmo is young but I think they have a lot of good talent and they have great coaching. A win against Lexington can give them the confidence to finish strong and make some noise in the playoffs.
Lexington I think has overall the best talent pool in the division but continues to have difficulty finding the net under pressure. They get good movement and development, create opportunities and even take decent shots but come up short too often when playing against a tight defense. Perhaps the South Aiken loss will shake them out of it. If that loss causes them to find that last bit, then the Palmetto Cup will be interesting and the end of the year exciting for the Wildcats.
South Aiken has good speed and was able to counter dangerously against Lexington using it. They also have a solid defense and a goalie that they can rely on. If anyone lets their guard down even a little then SA is going to win the game, but I don’t see them beating Irmo or Lexington when one of them brings an ‘A’ game.
I agree White Knoll is improving but I don’t see them winning the region for a few more years. I don’t know about their coaching changes and how much that has helped but I think they can give a good game to anyone any night. They draw from a good club area so I think they will continue to improve as their side of town developes.
So my picks: Lexington wins on Friday and it ends up Lex, Irmo, SA and WK at season end.
