Apr. 28—The final week of the regular season is a big one for the South Aiken girls’ soccer team.
There’s plenty at stake for the T-Breds as the state playoff picture takes shape, and this week’s results will dictate South Aiken’s opening-round matchup when the postseason begins May 6.
The T-Breds started the week in a tie for second in the Region 4-AAAA standings with Gilbert, and those two are scheduled to meet Thursday in a game that very well could determine who gets the No. 2 seed and who’s the No. 3 from the region — but, of course, that still would all hinge on the result of Monday night’s home game against North Augusta.
South Aiken controls its own destiny, which is where teams want to be this time of year.
“I’ve been telling the girls it’s just one game at a time. We knew that going through,” said head coach Dave Mihoulides. “Gray (Collegiate Academy), they were dominant. Gilbert, it was a tough one first time we played them, out-shot them about 20-3 and their keeper was just all-world, D1 recruit, and she just turned away everything we had, so we lost 2-1 that first one. We just couldn’t put an extra one in and seal the deal on that. But we’re excited. The girls are excited. They want to take out North Augusta on Monday, and Gilbert’s going to be that showdown. We’re both 9-3 right now. If we’re able to win out, then it looks like we’re going to take second in region.”
Of course, even getting to this point required the T-Breds (9-4-2 overall, 9-3 in region) to clear some major hurdles last week. They extended their win streak to five games, a stretch that included a pair of wins over rival Aiken. South Aiken completed the sweep with a 4-3 win Friday, as the T-Breds showed both focus and firepower to pick up another crucial victory in a series that’s never short on fireworks.
“It’s always going to be a battle. It doesn’t matter what our records are. I don’t care if one of us has no wins. It’s always going to be a battle,” Mihoulides said. “These are girls they grew up with. We weathered the storm a little bit. They started pressing, they started pushing numbers, and the girls were up to the challenge and they were able to go ahead and finish the deal, seal the deal. Mikayla (Pollina) with a big goal at the end there.
“One of the things we talked about, I just at the half talked about, ‘We’ve got to shoot, man.’ They came out in the second half and put three in in the second half. Aiken, man, they push. (Aiken coach Victor Tice) always got the girls ready, and he’s a great tactical coach, and he’s always got them ready for us, and we’re always ready for them. It’s just a little chess match going on during the game, figuring out, moving the right pieces. We just got lucky enough to go ahead and get that last piece.”
The T-Breds’ three leading goal-scorers all found the back of the net Friday. Senior Zoe Schifer scored two of her team-high 15 goals, while sophomores Pollina (10 for the season) and Madee Whittle (nine) each scored once. Whittle added an assist, which was her eighth of the season and broke a tie with Schifer for the team lead.
A 1-1 game at the half got wild over the final 40 minutes, with the teams combining for five goals in the second half. South Aiken surged to a 3-1 lead, only for Aiken to twice get within a goal before the T-Breds ultimately finished off the win.
“The girls did really, really well tonight. We had to bring up a couple girls from JV tonight because we had some girls on a DECA trip competing down in Orlando,” Mihoulides said. “They stepped in and they plugged in, and they did a really, really good job. Maria (Rodriguez), Jamie (Velarde), they stepped it up. These are players, they’ve been spending the whole season — Jamie came up a couple times to play with us — but spending the whole season on JV, crafting, getting better, man. They plugged right in tonight, which was definitely a good shot in the arm.”
All of that sets up a shot at second place this week. Gray Collegiate already has the top spot wrapped up at 13-0, and at 9-3 to begin the week Gilbert and South Aiken are assured they’ll finish no lower than third. That can lead to some extra pressure on these last two games, but Mihoulides knows what he can lean on from his team in those tense situations.
“Just the chemistry and the camaraderie among the girls. They love each other, and they’re there for each other, and they build each other up, and there’s so much positivity on this team,” he said. “They help each other, and they instruct each other. Great leadership from our captains, especially Zoe Schifer. That’s definitely going to be a big hole for us next year in our team and in our lineup.
“But the girls across the board are just playing solid soccer. If we continue to do that, I just talked to them about we peak at certain times and you’ve got to peak at the right time, and we’re peaking at the right time right now. If we can keep going on that uphill climb there and keep getting better every single day, we can do some damage in the playoffs.”
The final week of the regular season is a big one for the South Aiken girls’ soccer team.
There’s plenty at stake for the T-Breds as the state playoff picture takes shape, and this week’s results will dictate South Aiken’s opening-round matchup when the postseason begins May 6.
The T-Breds started the week in a tie for second in the Region 4-AAAA standings with Gilbert, and those two are scheduled to meet Thursday in a game that very well could determine who gets the No. 2 seed and who’s the No. 3 from the region – but, of course, that still would all hinge on the result of Monday night’s home game against North Augusta.
South Aiken controls its own destiny, which is where teams want to be this time of year.
“I’ve been telling the girls it’s just one game at a time. We knew that going through,” said head coach Dave Mihoulides. “Gray (Collegiate Academy), they were dominant. Gilbert, it was a tough one first time we played them, out-shot them about 20-3 and their keeper was just all-world, D1 recruit, and she just turned away everything we had, so we lost 2-1 that first one. We just couldn’t put an extra one in and seal the deal on that. But we’re excited. The girls are excited. They want to take out North Augusta on Monday, and Gilbert’s going to be that showdown. We’re both 9-3 right now. If we’re able to win out, then it looks like we’re going to take second in region.”
Of course, even getting to this point required the T-Breds (9-4-2 overall, 9-3 in region) to clear some major hurdles last week. They extended their win streak to five games, a stretch that included a pair of wins over rival Aiken. South Aiken completed the sweep with a 4-3 win Friday, as the T-Breds showed both focus and firepower to pick up another crucial victory in a series that’s never short on fireworks.
“It’s always going to be a battle. It doesn’t matter what our records are. I don’t care if one of us has no wins. It’s always going to be a battle,” Mihoulides said. “These are girls they grew up with. We weathered the storm a little bit. They started pressing, they started pushing numbers, and the girls were up to the challenge and they were able to go ahead and finish the deal, seal the deal. Mikayla (Pollina) with a big goal at the end there.
“One of the things we talked about, I just at the half talked about, ‘We’ve got to shoot, man.’ They came out in the second half and put three in in the second half. Aiken, man, they push. (Aiken coach Victor Tice) always got the girls ready, and he’s a great tactical coach, and he’s always got them ready for us, and we’re always ready for them. It’s just a little chess match going on during the game, figuring out, moving the right pieces. We just got lucky enough to go ahead and get that last piece.”
The T-Breds’ three leading goal-scorers all found the back of the net Friday. Senior Zoe Schifer scored two of her team-high 15 goals, while sophomores Pollina (10 for the season) and Madee Whittle (nine) each scored once. Whittle added an assist, which was her eighth of the season and broke a tie with Schifer for the team lead.
A 1-1 game at the half got wild over the final 40 minutes, with the teams combining for five goals in the second half. South Aiken surged to a 3-1 lead, only for Aiken to twice get within a goal before the T-Breds ultimately finished off the win.
“The girls did really, really well tonight. We had to bring up a couple girls from JV tonight because we had some girls on a DECA trip competing down in Orlando,” Mihoulides said. “They stepped in and they plugged in, and they did a really, really good job. Maria (Rodriguez), Jamie (Velarde), they stepped it up. These are players, they’ve been spending the whole season – Jamie came up a couple times to play with us – but spending the whole season on JV, crafting, getting better, man. They plugged right in tonight, which was definitely a good shot in the arm.”
All of that sets up a shot at second place this week. Gray Collegiate already has the top spot wrapped up at 13-0, and at 9-3 to begin the week Gilbert and South Aiken are assured they’ll finish no lower than third. That can lead to some extra pressure on these last two games, but Mihoulides knows what he can lean on from his team in those tense situations.
“Just the chemistry and the camaraderie among the girls. They love each other, and they’re there for each other, and they build each other up, and there’s so much positivity on this team,” he said. “They help each other, and they instruct each other. Great leadership from our captains, especially Zoe Schifer. That’s definitely going to be a big hole for us next year in our team and in our lineup.
“But the girls across the board are just playing solid soccer. If we continue to do that, I just talked to them about we peak at certain times and you’ve got to peak at the right time, and we’re peaking at the right time right now. If we can keep going on that uphill climb there and keep getting better every single day, we can do some damage in the playoffs.”
