Ashley Ridge tops James Island to claim Lower State soccer title

Roger Lee • May 18, 2025

James Island goal keeper Jackson Crawford comes out of goal to defend an attack by Ashley Ridge midfielder Joshua DeSouza May 17 during the 5A, Division 1 Boys Soccer Lower State Championship.

By Roger Lee

Contributing Writer

Charleston – Just when it looked like a match between a pair of highly-ranked Lowcountry soccer teams would be a one-sided affair it became a dog fight.


Ashley Ridge, ranked third among 5A teams in the state, hosted fifth-ranked James Island May 17 for the 2025 South Carolina 5A, Division 1 Boys Soccer Lower State Championship. The teams had met twice before this season with the Swamp Foxes edging out a victory in both meetings. However, James Island was coming off a penalty-kick shootout victory over Wando, 5A’s top-ranked team that is also ranked nationally.


While Ashley Ridge had a fast start in the Lower State match, it had to fend off a fierce James Island rally to claim a 5-3 victory and advance to the state finals.


“Our first game with them went to PKs,” said Ashley Ridge coach Nate Harris. “The second we scored with five minutes left so it has always been very close with them. Coach Todd Robinson does a great job with them and they are very talented so we knew it was going to be a battle coming in but I had a good feeling about our chances especially considering we have Joshua DeSouza back.”


DeSouza, a junior who missed much of the season due to an injury, returned just in time for the playoffs. During Saturday’s playoff victory, he scored two goals, senior Beckham Harris scored two goals and sophomore Austin Fuller scored a goal to lead the Swamp Foxes past the Trojans. Fuller also had two assists while seniors Jett Buelna and Bennett Boomershine also had an assist.


Ashley Ridge improved to 22-3 on the season while James Island fell to 16-7.


“These guys have shown grit all year,” said James Island coach Todd Robinson. “The win against Wando and the way we came back here, it really shows the character of the players and hopefully the culture they helped produce will continue into the future. We have five seniors who played a major role but we have thrown some young guys out there with them so I think we will be alright moving forward.”


Only six minutes into the match, Fuller had a good look at the goal. However, he had a defender on him so he passed to DeSouza who sent the ball into the net for the opening score.


Thanks in part to multiple saves by Ashley Ridge goal keeper Keith McCune and James Island keeper Jackson Crawford, the 1-0 score held until the second half.


In the first five minutes of the second half, Ashley Ridge was awarded a free kick. The kick was on mark, allowing Harris to head the ball into the net for his first score.


With just under 18 minutes remaining, James Island junior Owen McCabe sailed a beautiful kick in from outside the box that found the net to put the Trojans on the board. Approximately three minutes later, the Trojans took a hard shot that McCune managed to deflect. However, junior Charlie Adams was there for the deflection and quickly sent another shot into the net for a 2-2 tie.


“We weren’t surprised they scored two quick ones,” Harris said. “They are a very talented team so they can score anytime and anywhere. The thing I was most grateful for was our response. Other teams would have kind of folded. They had their fans in the game and our kids, some of them freshmen and sophomores, had to come out and steady the ship. To answer two goals like that with three goals was very impressive. I’m so proud of the boys.”


Ashley Ridge picked things up in the final 10 minutes, scoring three goals for a 5-2 lead. Boomershine spotted Fuller in front of the James Island goal and passed to him for a shot that broke the tie. Fuller acted in kind in stoppage time, finding DeSouza in front of the net and passing to him for a goal and a 4-2 Swamp Foxes’ lead. Then Harris lined up for a free kick and instead of making a pass toward the goal, the expected move, drove in and slipped by a defender to land a shot in the back-right corner of the net for a 5-2 lead.


James Island senior Sahil Jivan hit a penalty kick late in the match for the 5-3 final. While it wasn’t the outcome the Trojans were hoping for, the team went down fighting.


“This is one of the hardest working teams I’ve coached in 22 years,” Robinson said. “They bust their butts in every single practice and every game. Maybe in part to the PK shootout on Wednesday it looked like we had heavy legs at first, but then we got momentum and capitalized on it. There was a lot of self belief but we just ran out of gas.”


Ashley Ridge will face JL Mann in the South Carolina 5A, Division 1 Boys Soccer Championship match at 6 p.m. Friday, May 23 in Columbia. JL Mann defeated Lexington 2-1 in the Upper State Championship.



By Staff Reports July 1, 2025
Pee Dee Academy's Maddie Coward.
By Billy Baker July 1, 2025
Clarendon Hall Academy's Mandy Wells the 2025 HSSR-SCISA Career Miss Softball.
By Billy Baker July 1, 2025
Gray Collegiate's Aspen Boulware 2025 HSSR Miss Softball.
By Billy Baker June 26, 2025
HSSR's #1 rated 2026 football prospect Desmond Green!
By Larry Gamble June 18, 2025
Senior running back Jaiden McDowell also returns and he recently ran a 4.47 at a skills combine camp.
By Larry Gamble June 18, 2025
Lake View’s Kaylynn Turner Named “NETC” Female Student Athlete of the Month Lake View — Kaylynn Turner is a senior who plays softball and volleyball at Lake View High School . Turner said she started playing volleyball in the seventh grade, but softball is her favorite sport, which she started playing in the 9 th grade. On the volleyball court, she played all around as a utility player and played left field in softball. Being a two-sport student athlete brought opportunities. Turner says this about team play, “My favorite part is being on a team with friends, forming new friendships, and the support from family.” In the classroom, she carries a 4.07 GPA, and she says that after high school she plans to major in Exercise Science with an end goal of a career in Occupational Therapy, or as an athletic trainer. While she has not ruled out continuing softball at the next level, if she gets that opportunity, her favorites teams are Coastal Carolina , USC , and Florence Darlington Tech .  For all her athletic and academic accomplishments, Turner has been chosen the “NETC” Female Student Athlete of the Month.” This honor is bestowed through a partnership between the Northeastern Technical College and “The High School Sports Report” with the publication communicating with athletic directors at high schools in the counties of Dillon, Marlboro, and Chesterfield, where NETC serves the needs of high school students seeking to earn dual credits, in various subjects, that can be transferred to colleges after a student’s high school graduation. The NETC is currently offering over 44 online dual credit courses for the 2024-25 school year to students in the three counties they serve. Currently, Turner is enrolled in two dual credit online courses offered by NETC. She already completed many basic requirements for her freshman year of college. She has focused on taking key classes for her major, like Medical Terminology, History, and Spanish. She added that she “already took care of many first-year classes and hopefully this puts me a semester ahead when I start college.”. When asked about what NETC did to help her, Turner said it “helped her develop important time management skills, especially while playing sports, attending high school, and taking college level classes online through the NETC. “Dual-enrollment classes really taught me the difference between in-person classes, versus online classes which prepared me for what’s I should experience in in college,” said Turner. When asked about the online class experience, Turner said the experience was a “confidence boost” that enhanced her time management skills. “The online classes were doable when I thought they weren’t,” she said. “Before taking online classes, I was more of a procrastinator, and I learned to be more on top of my work.” Turner recalled her favorite time playing softball “In the first game of the lower state playoffs this past season, I played a long ball off the fence and I was able to throw it back to the infield and we got the lead runner out.”
By Larry Gamble June 18, 2025
Lake View’s Kason Herlong Named “NETC” Male Student Athlete of the Month  Lake View — Kason Herlong is a senior two-sport athlete at Lake View High School , where he earned all-region honors in two seasons as the starting quarterback on the football team. He was recently named the Class A Baseball Player of the Year by the South Carolina Baseball Coaches Association and Herlong has signed a baseball scholarship to attend North Greenville College . He has also earned Class A all-state honors in baseball by the “The High School Sports Report” for the past three seasons. Herlong batted .418 with two home runs and 17 RBI’s this past season. On the mound he was 7-1 with 80 strike-outs in 50.1 innings of work. He had a .556 ERA also. Of the two sports, Herlong favors baseball. Baseball is a sport he has played since he was first enrolled in T-Ball. Herlong was also chosen to represent Lake View in the 2025 North-South all-star baseball game. He has a very bright future ahead of him in the sport of baseball. In the classroom he carries a 5.23 GPA. He has been taking dual credit online courses through the NETC since he started the ninth grade. Just a sample of his completed college course work includes College Algebra, Biology, English 1, English 2, Computing, and Economics. For all his athletic and academic accomplishments, Herlong has been chosen the “NETC” Male Student Athlete of the Month.” This honor is bestowed through a partnership between the Northeastern Technical College and “The High School Sports Report” with the publication communicating with athletic directors at high schools in the counties of Dillon, Marlboro, and Chesterfield, where NETC serves the needs of high school students seeking to earn dual credits in various subjects that can be transferred to colleges after a student’s high school graduation. The ”NETC” is currently offering over 44 online dual credit courses for the 2024-25 school year to students in the three counties they serve. With his high diploma earned, and numerous college level courses completed with NETC, Herlong should start college as a sophomore when he reports to campus at the end of the summer. He plans to major in Accounting in college. “Taking NETC online courses had a huge impact, including being better at prioritizing my time,” said Herlong. “How you do one thing, is how you do everything. And it helps keep me focused on meeting priorities and deadlines in both academics and athletics,” said Herlong. When asked about the impact on starting his collegiate career, he commented, “By taking these online classes now, I’ve got extra credits completed to put me one step ahead. I’ve been very blessed to have this opportunity.” Herlong said that while baseball is his favorite sport, he also enjoyed playing football. As a two-sport athlete in high school, and dual enrolled for online college classes through the NETC, he feels better prepared to meet the challenges ahead of him as a student athlete at North Greenville University. Herlong has a favorite memory from his baseball career. ”This season, we won against Latta for the Lower State Championship,” he said. “Last season, we got beat by Latta for the lower state championship. We came back this season and turned that around by beating them twice on their field. Those two wins advanced the team to play for a State Championship.”
By Neill Kirkpatrick June 18, 2025
Cav’s head coach Quinn Hatfield.
By David Shelton June 18, 2025
Colleton Prep rising senior Ava Murray batted .543 with six homers, 31 RBIs and 22 stolen bases in her junior season.
More Posts