Amid driving rain, Clover soccer team’s efforts fall short in state title match
Clover lost 2-0 to Ashley Ridge in the South Carolina High School League 5A Boys Soccer State Championship game Friday night.
Ashley Ridge’s Beckham Harris first-half header just snuck past Clover goalkeeper Cohen Brinkley for the Swamp Foxes’ first goal. Their second goal came in the second half thanks to a breakaway effort by Christian Lozano.
It was a rainy affair at Irmo High School, as the heavy downpour during the first half caused the scoreboard to malfunction. The rain lightened up midway through the second half and completely cleared out by the final whistle.
Blue Eagle head coach Graham Stafford made no excuses for his team’s play.
“(Because of the heavy rain) they couldn’t hear me, so they can’t hear me in the best of conditions,” he said. “With that rain, it was just very, very difficult. But I mean you just got to roll your sleeves up and play through it.”
“We had a whole second half (without the heavy rain). We could have put things together, and they picked us off on the break. We were getting a little bit desperate to try to get back in the game.”
Ashley Ridge stayed tight defensively, making it really hard for Clover to get forward at times even when the Swamp Foxes were down to 10 guys due to a red card.
This led to the Blue Eagles lobbing more passes forward.
“We didn’t play our normal game,” Stafford said. “We try to build out the back a little bit more patiently. I thought we went forward a bit too eagerly, turned the ball over really poorly and cheaply at times. It kind of hurt our rhythm.”
Despite the loss, Stafford praised the Blue Eagles for this season’s success.
Their stellar play, especially in the postseason, propelled them to the program’s first boys soccer championship game appearance since 2016.
“This is a magical group of boys,” Stafford said. “I couldn’t be more proud to represent them as a coach. They represent the community with honor. They’re disappointed tonight. Of course they will be. It’s one of those things that you think it’s your year. But we just have to take it on the chin. They’ve got nothing to hang their heads about. It’s been a fantastic season.”
This story was originally published May 13, 2023 at 12:48 AM.