Fort Mill girls push on to Upper State final

Fort Mill staved off a physical Dorman team Friday night and moved on to the 4A girls' soccer Upper State final.

Junior striker Meredith Christopher scored twice and led a dogged effort from the smaller Yellow Jackets, who didn't back down from the numerous 50-50 clashes in a 2-1 win.

“We played them earlier in the season and you could tell they’re just like us, they were getting better and better throughout the season,” said Fort Mill coach Chris Quinn. “We didn’t take them for granted today.”

Fort Mill largely bossed the first half, center midfielder Kimber Haley running the match from the middle of the park. The junior committed to Clemson got her foot on the ball early and often, pinging it around to her teammates, or driving forward when defenders stood off her.

Christopher provided the cutting edge up top for the Yellow Jackets, and she opened the scoring in the 19th minute. The Elon commit received a pass near the top of the 18-yard box and opened her hips to suggest a pass, before ghosting past the approaching defender and slotting the ball into the left corner for a 1-0 lead.

Fort Mill nearly added to the lead twice in the last minutes of the first half.

Haley’s perfectly weighted pass dropped into Corbett Davis’ run, but with a 4-on-3, she shot high and wide. A minute later, Erin Wolfe sliced and diced her way into some open space in the penalty area. Her shot was deflected and Ashley Hogg blasted a follow-up over the goal.

Turning point

Christopher doubled the score about four minutes into the second half. Dorman goalie Lindsay Stravolo got caught out of the box challenging a ball that Christopher was chasing and the ball bounded up into Stravolo’s hand for a Fort Mill free kick. Christopher dipped a shot over the wall of defenders that Stravolo caught mid-dive, only for the linesman to vigorously wave his flag. The ball had crossed the line while in the Dorman keeper’s grasp.

That goal proved crucial as the visitors grew into the game in the second half. Sydnie Rogers scored in the 56th minute after the keeper came for a free kick but was blocked off. Rogers stabbed home to make it 2-1, but Fort Mill held on.

Critical

Fort Mill beat Dorman 4-0 on March 1, but Josef Lorenz’s team had improved. Their advantage was in size and they threw the more skilled Yellow Jackets around when able.

“We knew we could score on them, but they were big,” said Christopher. “We went in just trying to win all the 50-50 balls - we didn’t get them all - but we just had to really work on our effort in that game, which we did.”

Star contributors

Christopher was excellent up front and also helped clear a late scramble in the box, kicking the ball ahead of her and chasing it, before winning a throw-in that alleviated the pressure a bit. She connected well with Haley - her club teammate - throughout, while fellow midfielders Annika Ford and Madelon Thompson also controlled the game in the middle of the field and were two of the Fort Mill players that could dish out some physical punishment to Dorman.

On deck

The No. 3-ranked Yellow Jackets hit the road Monday to face No. 2-ranked J.L. Mann, which dispatched Dutch Fork 4-0 Friday.

“We had a good feeling going into the season that we were gonna see them in the Upper State final,” said Quinn. “I think the girls are ready. We have to win five games, we’ve won three. We’re only gonna worry about our fourth game now.”

Box score

Fort Mill 2, Dorman 1

FM: Meredith Christopher (20, 44)

D: Sydnie Rogers (56)

Records: Fort Mill 20-1-3; Dorman 13-8

This story was originally published May 6, 2016 at 9:41 PM with the headline "Fort Mill girls push on to Upper State final."