Wando boys soccer gets its revenge, denies Dutch Fork trip to state championship

Dutch Fork ended one of Wando’s streaks this season but couldn’t end another.

The Warriors scored twice in the second half to defeat the nationally ranked Silver Foxes, 2-0, in the Class 5A Lower State championship Tuesday.

Wando advances to its 14th state championship match and third in a row. The Warriors play JL Mann on Saturday at 7 p.m. at Irmo High School. The Warriors have won two straight Class 5A titles and four championships in the past eight seasons.

Tuesday’s matchup was the second between the teams this season. Dutch Fork defeated Wando, 3-2, in overtime to win the Capital City Cup on Feb. 24. The Silver Foxes’ win ended the Warriors’ 58-match winning streak.

That’s something Wando coach Shilo Tisdale said was on the mind of his team entering Tuesday’s state semifinal.

“That’s been our ultimate goal,” Tisdale said. “This was the team that snapped the win streak. I told them, remember this because they snapped our win streak. Now, let’s go finish their season.”

The Silver Foxes were looking to make it to their first state championship match since 1998, the only time it was done in school history. Dutch Fork finishes the season at 17-2, the second straight year it won 17 games. Dutch Fork won the Capital City Cup earlier in the year and got as high as No. 2 in the country in the USA Today Super 25 poll following the win over the Warriors.

Dutch Fork entered Tuesday’s match ranked No. 15.

“We won the Capital City Cup and that’s probably what everyone is going to remember since we had never done that,” Dutch Fork coach Jovan Brdarski said. “They have done a fantastic job, are a good group of kids and worked hard to get where we are right now.”

The teams were tied 0-0 at halftime but Wando took the lead on a header by Kevin Wray in the 52nd minute. It was Wray’s seventh goal of the playoffs and team-leading 26th of the season.

Wando made it 2-0 on Owen Hamilton’s rebound in the 63rd minute. It was the first time the Silver Foxes were shut out since last year’s 4-0 loss to Wando in the playoffs.

“They closed us down and made it hard for us to get anything or any break,” Brdarski said. “Small details went in favor for them and not us. Unfortunately, we ended up on the losing side. We kept working hard and I congratulated them on a great season.”

This story was originally published May 7, 2019 at 8:35 PM.