If you're not busy tonight

Well I have tired of trying to explain to people over at the DC board that no, you really aren't allowed to crash into and knock down an opponent regardless of whether he can "get to the ball" or not.

So I thought I'd come bore you guys with the State SOccer Tournament.

Before I begin though, let me echo what fidlerre has been positing: 95% of High School soccer is absolutelcrap. Terrible. Painful to watch.

But as a lover of the game, there are some few teams who play the game well, some even very well, and there are some players who clearly merit attention because they are headed for bigger and better things.

Otherwise, I wouldn't go see a HS game if it was held accross the street from me.

That said:

In Division I there are some great games coming up Wednesday in the "Bracket of Death":

Dublin Coffman vs. Westerville SOuth and Pick Noth vs. Thomas Worthington.

Coffman took apart a decent Groveport-Madison side 11 - 0 last Thursday while TW kicked crap out of Whetstone. Look for a Coffman/TW matchup on Saturday.

The other bracket features number one seed Dublin Scioto (who everybody was trying to avoid) beating up on the little sisters of the poor.

In Div III Worthington Christian dismantled Gahanna Christian 10 - 1 to set up a terrific match with Bloom-Carroll.

Olentangy Liberty easily beat Bishop Ready 4 - 0 and will play Fisher Catholic on Wednesday in a game that Liberty should easily win, setting up a Saturday showdown with New Albany.

 

Still not many surprises statewide, and none in Central Ohio.

Dublin Scioto took down Reynoldsburg to set up a Saturday match with Upper Arlington.

Westerville South took Dublin Coffman to a shootout, but it's be Coffman against Thomas Worthington on Saturday.

In Div III, Worthington Christian took a tough 1 - 0 victory from Bloom-Carrol and will face Columbus Academy.

Olentangy Liberty easily handled Fisher Catholic 4 - 0 and will face New Albany, who wiped out Grandview Hieghts 11 - 0.


I haven't missed yet, but I've been feasting on the easy ones. Nonetheless, look for Scioto to beat Arlibton and Thomas Worthington, in a mild upset, to defeat Coffman.

Meanwhile, the WC vs. Liberty match is looking more and more likely. THAT will be one worth catching.

 

Lots of upsets while I was on vacation.

The real shame is that many of the best kids in the state, the ones who will go far, have been eliminated, so we won't be seeing them at Crew Stadium next weekend.

Dublin Scioto went down to Westerville North in a shootout, so Brunner (Maryland) and Price (OSU?)are done. North then easily handled TW and set up a good match with Lakota West, which features a tough young star in defender John Mellencamp (Indiana committment) (Yes, they're related - and Uncle John comes to his games sometimes)as well as striker Eric Kustos (Ohio State).

In the other Div I bracket, Hudson looks like a strong candidate to repeat behind All-Everything Xavier Balc (Ohio State) and eight new starters. They kicked Mayfield around 4 - 0, then killed Green on Saturday 6 - 0.

In Div II, last year's only Sophomore All American Kiki Willis' Youngstown Cardinal Mooney lost to Chagrin Falls.

Dayton Carroll looks to be on a roll despite Ofori Sarkodie having flown off to Bradenton to hang around with Freddy Adu, along with Wickliffes' Kenny Walker and Upper Arlington's Steven Sandbo (SMU). Look for Carroll to beat Columbus Bexley and play Chagrin in CCS.

In Div III, we won't be seeing All American Kai Kasurian's CVCA team in Columbus. He's scored 50 goals despite a serious injury this season.

Meanwhile, Kenny Anaba's Worthington Christian is just kicking crap out of everybody, pounding Coshocton 8 - 1 in the Regional Semi and then wiping out New Albany 5 - 1 in the final. Look for whoever wins their Tuesday match with Cincinnati Madeira to win it all.

 

Sorry - should have specified a little better:

That's 50 for his HS career. Still impressive (he had 20 this year) but not superhuman.

 

It always shocks me, although I should have learned by now: these parents have been sitting around in lawn chairs watching their kid play soccer year-round for over ten years in most cases and they still seem to have only a passing familiarity with the rules.

Anyway, Hudson did go down 1 - 0 to Toledo St Francis, despite being outshot 17 - 2. They'll play Westerville North in CCS on Friday after they (also surprisingly) beat Lakota West 3 - 2.

The game of the night, maybe of the year, apparently, was Bexley/Carroll. Somewhere today there's a pretty torn up kid who thinks he "lost the game" for his team.

Bexley will play Chagrin Falls on Saturday. Neither of these teams were all that highly rated, but both have caught fire at the right time.

And Worthington Christian went down 3 -2 to Madeira and will play Gates Mills Hawken in a battle of Yuppie Spawn. Who cares?