With two weeks to go in the regular season, region championship races are starting to heat up.
Region 4-4A
Spring Valley enters the stretch run with an 8-1 record and a one game lead in the loss column over both Irmo (8-2) and Dutch Fork (7-2), but the Vikings are by no means on easy street though they do control they own destiny. SV plays at Dutch Fork on Tuesday and closes out the region/regular season on May 2 at home against Irmo.
Irmo avenged a previous loss to Dutch Fork with a resounding 5-2 win over the Silver Foxes on Friday at W.C. Hawkins Stadium.
Region 5-4A
Lexington pulled even with South Aiken atop the region standings with a 2-1 shootout win on the road over the Thoroughbreds on Friday. Alyson Driscoll tallied in regulation for the Wildcats, and the team went 5-for-5 in the penalty kick tie-breaking session. Lexington and South Aiken both sport 6-1 records with three games left.
White Knoll, meanwhile, vaulted over North Augusta into third place with a 4-2 win Friday at home against the Yellow Jackets. Both clubs entered with 3-3 region marks.
Region 5-3A
Brookland-Cayce all but locked up the region championship with a convincing 4-0 win over second place A.C. Flora on Thursday. Noel McDaniel, Kathryn Greer, Carlyn Fralick and Helena Walters tallied the goals as the Bearcats completed a season sweep of the Falcons. B-C stands at 9-0 with three matches left in the region campaign, while Flora slips back to 7-2.
Airport and Chapin stayed in the hunt for a second-place finish and a home date in the first round of the state playoffs. Airport topped Dreher 4-1 on Thursday behind Alli Mims’ hat trick to improve to 6-3. Chapin also moved to 6-3 with an easy win over Lower Richland on Friday.
Airport has a tough road with games at Chapin on Tuesday, against A.C. Flora at home on Thursday and a region finale at home against archrival Brookland-Cayce.
Region 6-3A
Camden completed a perfect conference campaign with an 8-0 win on Thursday at home against Marlboro County. The Bulldogs finished region testing at 10-0, outscoring the conference opposition by an eye-opening 84-0 margin.
Region 5-2A
Swansea puts it region championship bid on the line Monday at Barnwell. The Tigers and host Warhorses both have one region loss on the books. Barnwell was a 1-0 winner in the first meeting on March 26. Swansea tuned up for the showdown with a 5-0 win over Wade Hampton on Thursday that clinched at least one home date in the first round of the state playoffs.
SCISA Region 1-3A
Hammond tightened its grip on the region championship with a 1-0 win over Cardinal Newman on Thursday and can essentially lock up the title with a win on Tuesday at Ben Lippen. Last week was a big won for the Skyhawks, who also nipped Gilbert, a region lead in the SCHSL ranks, by a 1-0 count.
