Lady Panthers claim fourth straight state championship
Pinewood Prep claimed the 2024 SCISA 4A Girls Soccer Championship.
By Roger Lee
Summerville – Pinewood Prep fought off a tenacious Porter-Gaud squad to capture the 2024 SCISA 4A Girls Soccer Championship.
The Panthers claimed a 1-0 victory over the Cyclones May 11 in the state-title match at Knights Family Field. This is the fourth consecutive season Pinewood has captured a girls’ soccer state championship and the eighth time the Panthers have captured a state title since Gail Osborne became the team’s coach in 2005.
Porter-Gaud, which also has several state championships under its belt and won its last state final in 2019, is often Pinewood’s toughest rival so it came as no surprise that the two teams treated fans to an exciting, yet low-scoring game.
“Hope Walters is an amazing coach who always comes out strong so we knew we were in for a challenge,” Osborne said. “We had a game plan in place if we were to get a goal behind, but we didn’t have to use it. Everyone stepped up and played their hearts out.”
Both teams made some nice runs at the goal but the defenses owned the day. After a scoreless first half, Pinewood senior captain Maggie Rollins gained possession of the ball approximately nine minutes into the second half and drove up the middle looking to score.
Porter-Gaud junior Anna Davis was in a strong position and stuck right with Rollins as she made it closer to the goal, but Rollins got off a hard shot that landed in the center of the net for the game’s sole score.
The Cyclones continued to fight, but the Panthers backline held as Pinewood clinched the title and improved to 22-1-2. The team’s only loss this season came to Providence Day School of North Carolina March 23.
“It’s nice having so many players back from last year,” senior captain Sara Clayton said. “We also had a few new faces with good talent so it was a different vibe this year, but we knew we had it in us. We knew that if we just kept fighting each and every day we would get here.”
Porter-Gaud fell to 19-4 on the season.
“These girls worked incredibly hard,” Walters said. “At the start of the game I told them ‘365 days ago you decided you would be back here and you did all the right things to get back.’ They beat some really good teams along the way and 19-4 is the best record in our program’s history to date. Every single one of these girls deserved to be here and earned the right and this is a very special team. I’m proud of them.”
It was the final game for Cyclones’ seniors Anna Kahn, Kaitlin Gregoire, Renny Miles, Windland Jaimes, Margaret Smith and Sarah Kuhl.
“All of our seniors are amazing and played their hearts out today,” Walters said. “Pinewood is a great side. We’ve seen them and had a rivalry for as long as I can remember and every time we play them it is this tight. They know how to play us and we know how to play them. It just wasn’t our day today, but the two teams that were supposed to be here today were here.”
Osborne attributes the win in large part to the efforts of her seniors, Alexa McCardle, Elin Fields, Rollins and Clayton.
