Wando tops River Bluff in battle of top Class 4A soccer teams
River Bluff’s boys soccer team kept the ball in Wando territory for most of the afternoon at the Swamp. The Warriors, the top team in the state 4A rankings, as well as No. 1 nationally in the latest USA Today/NCSAA poll, played like they wanted it that way.
The Gators, ranked second in the state behind Wando and fourth nationally, took more than two dozen shots on goal. Only Connor Slattery’s ball reached the back of the net.
By then, the Warriors held a 3-0 lead, and eventually won 3-1 to hand River Bluff its first loss of the season.
“We had more possessions, more chances, more corners, more throws,” River Bluff coach Phil Savitz said. “I thought we created as many or more chances than they did. I just thought they executed. I didn’t think our keepers had a great day, and their finishers were on.”
River Bluff (18-1) aimed 24 kicks toward the Wando (22-1) goal, and all except for Slattery’s were either jumped on by goalkeeper Will Kendrick or cleared by any one of several Warrior defenders who were constantly in front of the net.
“You’ve got to score to win, and we’ve got to do a better job of that,” Savitz said. “Two things I noticed of Wando that they did really really well was defensive clearances, they a lot of quality stops in terms of getting the ball out of trouble, and then they finish. If you do that on both ends on the field, you’re creating problems for the other team.”
Wando took a 1-0 lead in the 23rd minute when River Bluff goalkeeper Parker Wingard tackled Wando’s Sam Ross in the penalty area. Ross’s shot on the direct free kick went into the net as Wingard guessed wrong on his dive .
The Warriors made it 2-0 in the 49th minute when Zach Aversano’s shot from 10 yards out escaped Wingard’s grasp and rolled over the line for the score.
Ross made good again in the 73rd minute with a hard shot that ricocheted off Wingard and was just low enough to get under the crossbar for the game-clinching score.
Three minutes after Ross’ goal, Slattery put the Gators on the scoreboard.
“It was off a great play,” Slattery said. “He got it in and it bounced right off their defender and it luckily came right to me. I placed it in the top left corner.”
River Bluff had several mosre chances in the final 10 minutes, but Wando kept on clearing the shots.
“I have so much respect for them,” Slattery said. “They’re very solid, very tall built guys, and they’ve been playing their entire life.”
River Bluff ends the regular season Tuesday at Irmo, and Wando has a couple of games left before the postseason kicks off.
“I thought our guys did OK,” Warriors coach Shilo Tisdale said. “We need to stay a little bit more composed than what we did. If we continue winning and they continue winning, we’ll have to be right back here.”
If so, Savitz said that matchup won’t have the feel of relaxed teams duking it out on a sunny and cool afternoon. Wando, which clinched the Region 7 championship, and River Bluff, the Region 5 champion, could likely meet again in the third round.
“When both teams have already clinched their regions and a top spot in the playoffs, this looked nothing like a playoff game, I can promise you,” Savitz said. “Certainly I hope the result’s different if we happen to meet, but we’ve both got to win two games just to get there.”
This story was originally published April 23, 2016 at 11:39 PM with the headline "Wando tops River Bluff in battle of top Class 4A soccer teams."