Bishop England seeks double

BE girls, Woodruff meet for state championship

Tyrone Walker
The Post and Courier

Bishop England girls’ soccer coach Dave Snyder takes his team through drills Wednesday. The Bishops (15-7-1) face Woodruff in today’s girsl’ Class AA-A state championship in Columbia.

It's Bishop England vs. Woodruff, Chapter 2, in today's girls' Class AA-A state championship soccer match.

The Bishops edged Woodruff 1-0 in last year's title match as Katy Runey scored the only goal in the 28th minute to help the Bishops win their sixth straight state championship. Bishop England coach Dave Snyder expects another tough challenge when the two teams square off at 3 p.m. at the University of South Carolina's Stone Stadium in Columbia.

"I don't know if it helps to be defending state champs," said Snyder, who has never lost a title game as head coach of the girls' team. "Woodruff now has its state championship routine. They know how to approach a big game. I don't think there will be many nerves out there. There will be a lot of talent."

The Bishops will be making their 16th appearance in the title game in 18 years since the High School League sanctioned the event. Woodruff, on the other hand, is making its second appearance in the big game. The Wolverines, who received a first-round bye, beat Broome 4-0 in the second round, beat West-Oak 5-1 and topped Walhalla 1-0 to reach today's final.

The Bishops, who also had a first-round bye, beat Aynor 13-0, blanked Academic Magnet 4-0 and knocked off No. 1 Waccamaw 1-0 to reach the title game. The shutout against Waccamaw was the Bishops' seventh in a row in the playoffs. The Bishops haven't given up a goal in the playoffs since they beat Southside Christian 2-1 in the 2006 title match.

The shutout over Waccamaw also gave the Bishops a measure of revenge. The Bishops are 15-7-1 entering today's match, and two of the losses were to Waccamaw.

"To be honest, I didn't think of it as an upset when we beat them Monday night," Snyder said. "We had some unfortunate situations when we played them (in the regular season), had some things that didn't go our way. We went up there knowing we could win."

The Bishops proved they can play with anybody when they knocked off Wando, the state's top team during the regular season. The Bishops won in penalty kicks, but lost two key players with injuries: Tess Gillis and Nicole Gianoukos. The players needed three weeks to recover and get back into playing shape.

"This will be a challenge," Snyder said of today's showdown. "The girls know they just can't walk out there and expect to win. Woodruff strikes me as having speed and talent up front. Coach (Fernando) Gomez has built a quality program."