It was over soon after it started as the Fort Mill Yellow Jackets girls’ soccer team routed the Ridge View Blazers 8-1 to open the 5A state playoffs.
Fort Mill wasted no time showing how dominate they were going to be scoring nearly two minutes into the match and then again two minutes later. Jackets’ head coach Joelle Brotemarkle said she wasn’t surprised at the offensive outpouring.
“Our girls are capable of finishing,” Brotemarkle said. “I’m proud of them.”
Fort Mill’s Elizabeth Patete opened the scoring for the Jackets just 90 seconds into the match. Dylan Harder came right back for Fort Mill and scored at the four-minute mark in the first half to put the Jackets up 2-0.
Fort Mill’s offense did a good job of controlling possession without letting Ridge View get the ball or even cross midfield on offense for much of the first half. The Jackets used a corner kick about 12 minutes into play by Allie Evans to extend their lead as Evans bent the ball to the far-right post over a diving Blazers’ keeper.
Evans then came back 10 minutes later on another corner kick and did nearly the same thing, putting Fort Mill up 4-0.
After some substitutions, Ridge View finally was able to break through midfield and get on the board scoring their only goal on less than a handful of shot attempts.
Harder would come back six minutes later in the final 90 seconds of the first half and score her second goal of the game to put Fort Mill up 5-1 entering the half.
The second half was just as impressive for Fort Mill as they had three different players’ score. Kennedy Little scored about five minutes into the second half and then nine minutes later Kayleigh Kearns would get a goal of her own to put the Jackets up 7-1.
Fort Mill would control possession for the majority of the second half and used a lot of substitutes to get quality playing time. Rhyia Mitchell making her varsity debut for Fort Mill would score on a breakaway with about 12 minutes left in the game. She almost had another goal two minutes later before it was taken off the board for an offsides call.
The win improved Fort Mill to 14-4-3 overall. They will play in the second round with a road trip to overall No. 1 seed JL Mann in Greenville County. Brotemarkle said she knows her team has their work cut out for them.
“We are going to have to come in with a lot of energy and finish every chance we get,” she said.
In other games…
Catawba Ridge girls’ soccer beat Greer 3-1 in the opening round of the 4A state playoffs. The Copperheads will now travel to Travelers Rest in the second round of the playoffs Thursday.
Nation Ford girls’ soccer beat Spring Valley 3-0 with goals scored by Grace Dunnery, Kaiden Bridges and Riley Cota. The Falcons will now travel to Wade Hampton Thursday for their second-round game.
Baseball
Nation Ford baseball team fell to Blythewood 10-0 in the opening round of the District playoffs on the road. The loss drops the Falcons to 7-20 on the season. They will take on Riverside later this week in an elimination game on the road.
Catawba Ridge beat Westwood 13-6 to open the 4A baseball playoffs. The Copperheads scored in every inning and had 11 hits in the game. Owen Noonan, Trevor Testerman and Harrison Wilson all had two hits each in the game. Catawba Ridge will take on Laurens Thursday in the next round of the District playoffs.
Mac Banks: mac@fortmillprepsports.com, @fortprep
