Here's how Upstate high school boys and girls soccer teams fared in state semifinals
With most of Monday's action in high school sports washed out by storms, Tuesday became Upper State championship day for boys and girls soccer teams.
Riverside boys beat Wade Hampton on sophomore's hat trick
Marcus Smith scored three goals and was an unlucky bounce away from a fourth as Riverside beat Wade Hampton, 5-1, for the Class AAAA boys soccer Upper State title.
The Warriors (16-5-1) will play for a fourth consecutive state title Saturday (approximately 6:30 p.m.) against James Island at Memorial Stadium in Columbia. James Island (15-4-1) beat Lucy Beckham, 3-1, in the Lower State.
After a tight escape in the Upper State semifinals, 1-0 against North Augusta, Riverside coach Scott Columbia had a special request of Smith, a sophomore with 18 goals.
“I talked to him before the match and I said, ‘I need something special out of you tonight. I need a couple of goals,’” Columbia said. “After he scored the first one, he said, ‘I’ve got more for you, Coach.’ ”
Smith had two goals in the first half, and in between was a ricochet miss off the post. That was OK, though, because Riverside’s Jeff Boa cleaned it up and scored. Anthony Riggs had a second-half goal for the Warriors.
Hunter Hamner scored for Wade Hampton to make it 2-1 with about five minutes left in the first half.
UPSTATE BOYS SOCCER POWER RANKINGS: Greenville subscribers | Spartanburg | Anderson
The Generals came in on a 15-game winning streak that included two games against Riverside to take the Region 2-AAAA championship. Wade Hampton (16-4-1) was the No. 1 seed among 16 in the Upper State.
Both of Wade Hampton’s wins against Riverside during the regular season went into overtime, and neither team managed more than one goal as defenses dominated.
Three goals from either team, let alone one person, would've been considered a scoring outbreak.
“I’m ecstatic,” Smith said. “It feels amazing after losing twice. We’re usually locked in, but for this one, we were truly dialed in.”
Eastside girls earn chance to defend state title
Defending Class AAAA girls state champion Eastside got a couple of first-half goals, and that was plenty with the way the Eagles’ defense is playing.
Valeri Artemenko and Mary Holmes scored goals to beat Riverside, 2-0, for the Upper State title. The Eagles (21-2) shut out their opponent for the eighth time in the past nine games with one total goal allowed.
Eastside, which has won 11 straight games, will play for the state championship at 4:30 p.m. Saturday against Lucy Beckham (19-3) in Columbia.
UPSTATE GIRLS SOCCER POWER RANKINGS: Greenville subscribers | Spartanburg | Anderson
∎ Christ Church will send both of its teams to Columbia. The No. 2 overall seed boys beat Dixie, 2-0, in the Class A state semifinals for a showdown with No. 1 seed and region rival St. Joseph’s at 10 a.m. Saturday. The Christ Church girls beat St. Joseph’s, 3-1, in the Class A/AA semifinals and will play for the state title at about 12:30 p.m. Saturday against Oceanside.
∎ Powdersville girls beat Daniel, 2-0, and will play Waccamaw for the Class AAA state title at 5:30 p.m. Friday.
∎ Daniel boys beat Powdersville, 5-4 in overtime, and will play Waccamaw for the Class AAA state title at approximately 7:30 p.m. Friday.
∎ J.L. Mann’s boys and girls both came up short of a Patriots doubleheader in the Class AAAAA state finals. The boys lost to Fort Mill, 5-0. The girls lost to Clover, 2-0.
∎ In Class AA boys, Greenville Tech Charter’s season ended with a 3-0 loss to Gray Collegiate. GTC (14-6-1) had won eight of its previous nine games and outscored its opponents, 60-4.
Todd Shanesy is an award-winning veteran sports writer who 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 boys and girls teams fared
