Five teams win SCHSL boys soccer titles
Columbia – Memorial Stadium in Columbia was the site for the 2024 South Carolina High School League state championships for boys soccer on May 10-11.
The five contests were highly competitive with three contests needing overtime to decide the outcome. Oceanside Collegiate repeated as the state champion in Class AA while Riverside won a fourth consecutive state championship in Class AAAA. St. Joseph’s coach Frank Kucinic hoisted the top trophy for the 11th time in his career.
Here’s the recap of the five contests.
Class A boys St. Joseph’s 2, Christ Church 1 (golden goal)
Johnny Bunecke’s golden goal in the first sudden death overtime period lifted the Knights of St. Joseph’s Catholic to a 2-1 win over Greenville area rival Christ Church.
The title was the 11th for Knights head coach Frank Kucinic and was the second straight Class A crown for the Knights. St. Joseph’s finished 2024 with a 17-4 record.
“Holy smokes, what a game,” Kucinic said. “Amazing season for these kids. I knew coming into this that it was always a battle. The rivalry adds to it every time we play. Hat’s off to our guys. I’ve had these seniors since they were in the sixth or seventh-grade and this is a great way to send them out.”
Christ Church and St. Joseph’s split two games in the regular season had split the last six contests heading into the finals.
The Knights took the early advantage, getting a goal from Thomas Flanigan in the sixth minute of play. Christ Church evened the score seven minutes before halftime on Reeves Dobson’s equalizer off a follow up shot.
Each team had a few chances to score but went through regulation and two 10-minute overtime sessions before the sudden death periods. Bunecke’s goal came less than two minutes into the period.
“Just a great play by everyone,” Bunecke said. “Just passing it around and it got crossed over to me. At that point it was just muscle memory.”
Christ Church’s first-year coach Russell Shelley felt his team had opportunities to win.
“Great respect for their program and both teams had chances to win it,” Shelley said. “We played hard. Guys gave a great effort. We’re disappointed but it was a great season and a great accomplishment to be in this position.”
Class AAA - Daniel 1, Waccamaw 0
Isaac Turner's goal about a minute into the contest proved to be enough for the Daniel Lions to win their third consecutive Class AAA state championship.
Daniel's defense proved to be up to the task as the Lions held off several Waccamaw scoring threats in the latter stages of the contest.
"Just an amazing experience being able to send off the seniors with a state title," coach Thomas Izaguirre said,. "They were freshmen when I came into the program. It's an amazing feeling to be able to repay the parents of my team for all of their hard work and sacrifice for my team through the season. It takes a lot of people to win a championship."
Class AAAAA boys – Fort Mill 2, Stratford 2 (Fort Mill wins 3-0 on PKs)
It took a while, five hours in fact, but the Fort Mill boys soccer team found a way to outlast Stratford in the Class AAAAA boys soccer finals.
Fort Mill won the penalty kick phase, 3-0, to come away with their first state title since 2012. Adding to the 110 minutes of soccer was a two-hour weather delay with 31:59 left in the contest.
The loss ended Stratford’s chase for their first-ever boys soccer state championship.
Fort Mill provided the offensive push early in the first half and grabbed 1 -0 lead off a header by Braden Gritz in the14th minute of the contest.
With 31:59 remaining in the contest, the teams were forced off the field by lightening, a delay that lasted for two hours. When the teams returned, the Knights brought another level offensively.
“I think the rain delay helped us. I think it took some of the pressure off,” Stratford coach Jessie Stament said, “They came out and it was brilliant soccer. I could not be prouder of them. To see the pain in their eyes but they have no reason to hang their head. It was an incredible game by both teams. They really gave it their all.”
Senior Vinny Teixeira got the equalizer in the 58th minute of play. Three minutes later, fellow senior Jackson McNeil found the back of the net to give the Knights a 2-1 lead.
The Yellow Jackets would not go away, firing a shot at Stratford keeper Enzo Mori that bounced off his hands and to the foot of Ryan Seitz. The point blank goal tied the score at two.
“I am super proud of the boys,” Fort Mill coach Pete Burroughs said. “We felt like we were here for a reason. Our guys left it all on the field today. Both teams did really. It was a great game to be a part of.”
Class AA – Oceanside Collegiate 3, Gray Collegiate 0
Oceanside Collegiate got three goals in the final 25 minutes of the contest to record their second straight championship game victory.
“This one was harder,” OCA coach Collin Phillips said. “Happy for this moment. Guys played with discipline. They (Gray) pressed us hard in the first half. I think once we scored that first goal, we seemed to relax and play better. We needed one score to give our kids some confidence.”
After a scoreless first half, OCA got on the board in the 54th minute of play on a goal by Isaac Rasheed.
That lone goal would appear to be enough but security was provided by Mathias Dennis with just over six minutes remaining in the game. Icing on the cake came with under two minutes on a goal by sophomore Robert Hemingway.
“In my opinion, they are the best team in this state, regardless of classification,” Gray Collegiate coach Kevin Heise said of OCA. “Our guys battled. We came to play and we played great soccer for about 65 minutes or so. Once we got down, we tried to push more and we gave up a few goals. I’m proud of my team. We gave them all they wanted. We knew we would have to play an A-plus game to have a chance. I’m disappointed for my boys but we had a helluva year.”
Phillips was proud of the way he team handled the pressure of being the defending state champion.
“When we came into this season, we talked about the target on our back. We managed to go through the season undefeated because the guys work so hard. We didn’t rest on what we did last year,”
Class AAAA – Riverside 1, James Island 0 (overtime)
Riverside made it four in a row, winning an intense, physical battle with James Island.
After a scoreless 80-minute battle in regulation. With two mandatory 10-minute overtime periods to come, Riverside got an early goal from Kanye Ridgill off a header in the first overtime. The Warriors then played great defense for the remaining 17 minutes, holding off several scoring challenges from James Island.
“Great game,” Riverside coach Scott Columbia said. “It seems impossible to win four (in a row) but it’s a program. These guys, their heart was so much bigger. They followed the program and played so hard.
“Tonight, that was a great James Island team. They put the pressure on us and they kept us from scoring goals with their defense. I give them major, major credit. We just kept fighting the whole entire time and I am very proud of the boys.”
“It was a well-played game by both teams. We just came up a little short,” James Island coach Todd Robinson said. “Really proud of my team though. We gave it all we had. We lost to a really good team.”
James Island entered the final game having won 11 straight while allowing just four goals during that run.
