SCHSL soccer playoffs: How Upstate teams fared in state championships

COLUMBIA – Riverside lost 14 seniors from a boys soccer team that last season won a third consecutive state championship.

The run was supposed to be done. Not yet.

Kanye Ridgill scored off a free kick from Andres Giraldo in the first overtime period and Riverside held on to beat James Island, 1-0, for the Class AAAA title Saturday night at Memorial Stadium.

“Last year, I said three feels like a dream,” Riverside coach Scott Columbia said. “It seemed impossible to win four.”

On a perfectly placed ball from Giraldo from the left side to the far corner, Ridgill stopped it with his chest and knocked it in.

“We’ve been practicing that,” Ridgill said. “As soon as I saw that ball go up in the air, I was like, ‘That’s on me.’ I had it.”

Riverside ( 16-5-1) beat James Island, 4-1, for the 2023 championship. The game wasn’t as tight as this one, so all the underclassmen got to play.

“We brought up a strong sophomore and junior class,” said Ridgill, who is a senior along with Girado. “And we got it done.”

James Island (15-5-1) had some scoring chances, but the shots at the net were all stopped by junior goalkeeper Kody Bartel.

“That a great James Island team,” Columbia said. “They put the pressure on us and kept us from scoring goals. I give them credit. We just kept fighting the whole time.”

St. Joseph's boys soccer defends state title

Jonny Bunecke scored a golden goal after two overtimes and St. Joseph’s boys soccer beat region rival Christ Church, 2-1, for the Knights' second straight Class A state championship.

Four offensive players touched the ball as it ricocheted around in front of the net and Bunecke’s touch was a punch past the goalie and into the right corner for the winner with barely one minute gone in the sudden death portion of extra play.

“It was chaotic. It was everything going everywhere,” Bunecke said. “It was just muscle memory. I didn’t know what was happening until after it happened. I’m still not sure I know what happened.”

Bunecke hasn’t been a full-time player this season, but he’s delivered in some of the biggest moments, none bigger than this.

“He’s had limited time this year because we’ve been really senior-heavy,” St. Joseph’s coach Frank Kucinic said. “He’s been a golden goal scorer. He had another one earlier in the season. I’m really happy for him.”

Thomas Flannigan scored early for St. Joseph’s (17-4), giving the Knights a lead with about 15 minutes gone in the first half. Reeves Dobson of Christ Church (16-6-1) tied it up with seven minutes left until the break.

St. Joseph’s had the most offensive opportunities from there, but Christ Church had sophomore goalie William Ossmann and he made one highlight save after another.

In the first half, Patrick Kucaba thought he had given St. Joseph’s the lead, but has apparent goal was disallowed because of a penalty. Kucaba then had a perfect lob shot that almost floated in, but Ossman tapped it over the crossbar. He made another save with three seconds left before the halftime horn.

“We finally got one in. Good for Jonny. We love him,” Kucaba said. “... We had that one the ref called back. That was tough. But their goalie did really well. He was great. I told him. We played them three times a year, and I said that’s the best he’s played."

Eastside girls soccer wins AAAA state title in third OT

With goals tough to come by all day, even from close range, Eastside’s Payton Nutzman did some thinking outside the box.

The penalty area box.

In the third overtime, the sudden-death portion, Nutzman drilled a 30-foot stunner and Eastside beat Lucy Beckham, 2-1, for the Class AAAA girls soccer state championship.

“I didn't expect it to go in,” said Nutzman, the team’s leading scorer this season with 21 goals and 56 points. “I just shot and prayed.”

Eastside (22-2) won its second straight championship for coach David Craig.

Kennedy Craig, daughter of the coach, scored her eighth goal of the season in the opening minute of the game. Lucy Beckham (19-4) tied it up midway through the first half on a goal by Lillianna Iaofano.

Christ Church girls fall to Oceanside in AA state final

Christ Church girls soccer finished runner-up the third straight year in the Class AA state championship, but the Cavaliers got some positive reinforcement from their coach.

“Silver looks good on us,” Ashley Seeley said. "We should wear it with pride."

Christ Church battled to a scoreless tie in the first half, but Oceanside got it going and took a 3-0 win in a rematch of last year’s final.

DANIEL DEFENSE: Daniel uses strong defense to win third straight boys soccer Class AAA state title — at 1 a.m.

“Oceanside is a great team. Hats off to them,” Seeley said. “We talked about how we were going to have to battle for 80 minutes. Again, we came up short. But we lost so many seniors from last year that nobody thought we would be back again.”

Oceanside (17-1-2) won the title for the third time in four years.

Todd Shanesy is a longtime sports writer who now covers high school athletics for the Greenville News, Spartanburg Herald-Journal and Anderson Independent Mail in the USA TODAY Network. Contact him by email at todd.shanesy@shj.com. Follow him on X, formerly called Twitter, at @ToddShanesySHJ.

This article originally appeared on Herald-Journal: SCHSL soccer playoffs: How Upstate teams did in state championships