Chapin shuts out A.C. Flora to win Class 3A Upper State girls soccer title
Chapin claimed the girls Class 3A Upper State championship with a 2-0 victory over A.C. Flora on Monday, thanks in large part to Katie Arthur’s foot.
Eighteen minutes into the action at Cecil Woolbright Field, the sophomore midfielder sailed a free kick that bounced over a cluster of Eagles and Falcons. The ball landed behind A.C. Flora goalkeeper Kara McMullens, and in front of Chapin’s Shelby Waites, who tapped it into the net for the first goal.
Twelve minutes later, Arthur booted in an arcing kick from midfield off McMullens’ hands and into the net.
“It just felt right,” Arthur said about her goal. “We’re ready to bring it and ready to show who’s No.1 in the state.”
The Eagles (19-2-1) advanced to the state title game at Irmo High for the second time in three years.
“We’ve been pretty successful scoring all year, and going into the playoffs we wanted to score every 20 minutes or so, but we also wanted to live in the moment,” Chapin coach Bob Taylor said. “They’ve won a lot of games for us. I didn’t want them to take a game off and miss it. They could’ve overlooked this one, but they stayed focused and I’m very proud of them.”
Chapin will play a familiar opponent Saturday. Hilton Head, which beat Myrtle Beach 1-0 Monday, defeated the Eagles 1-0 in 2014 for the last of their four straight state titles and have made the state championship game for the past six years.
“I think we’ve got a little more firepower this year than we did that year,” Taylor said. “We scrimmaged them early on this year and they’ve got a good team. We’re just going to give it all we got.”
The Eagles kept the ball in Falcons territory most of the game, but it was good fortune that led to Waites’ and Arthur’s goals. Waites said it was chance that Arthur’s free kick drew out the Flora goaltender, and when the ball landed close to her, she knocked it into the net.
“I wouldn’t have been able to do it without the team. They set it up, I just knocked it in,” Waites said.
Once Arthur scored the second goal, the Eagles were poised to keep the Falcons off the scoreboard.
“We’ve been working on it for three or four years now,” Waites said about the state title game return. “I want to do it for everybody who’s played in the past and has worked to win state.”
Flora, coming off a 1-0 upset of defending state champion Dreher, finishes the season 9-12-1.
“It’s always a difficult after an emotional win like that to refocus,” Falcons coach Jamie McLeod said. “I don’t think we played poorly. We played a good soccer game, but Chapin was just better tonight.”
Chapin managed eight shots on goal before scoring, but the Eagles’ defense led by Jordan Dawsey stymied several breakaway attempts from Flora forwards Emily Geiger and Kathryn Roberts.
“Jordan Dawsey’s a great soccer player,” McLeod said. “I’ve been watching her for four years and it’s been a lot of fun watching her play, but I will not miss her next year.”
This story was originally published May 9, 2016 at 11:09 PM.