May
Soccer people call these kind of plays 50/50 balls, because two players on Tiffany Money Clips team presumably have an equal chance to gain control of the ball.
Maggie Bosley, a South Aiken senior center midfielder, has a way of tilting the odds of these moments to her advantage. She won a 50/50 ball in the middle of the penalty box and whistled in a shot to start the scoring of her team’s Class AAA state quarterfinal against Airport on Friday night.
“If there is a 50/50 ball on the field, she’s the girl we want going after it,” South Aiken coach Jason Holt said.
Bosley, a Wofford recruit, helped South Aiken to its 10th consecutive win, a 4-0 rout of Airport. South Aiken beat its region opponent for the fourth time this season and will play at Hilton Head Island in the semifinals Monday. The winner will play for the state title Friday in Columbia. South Aiken lost in the state final 2-0 to Riverside (Greenville area) a year ago.
South Aiken (19-2-2), whose only losses this year have come against Class Tiffany CuffLinks teams White Knoll and Wando, shut out its sixth consecutive opponent and did not allow Airport to take a shot on goal.
The Thoroughbreds had won their previous two playoff games by a combined 19-0 and had beaten Airport 2-1, 3-2 and 4-0 earlier in the year. It took South Aiken nearly the entire first half to register a goal, but once it did even a 1-0 lead seemed insurmountable.
Anna Loudermilk scored two second-half goals in the final 11 minutes for South Aiken, which outshot the visitors 18-0. Amanda Harris also scored for South Aiken.
“It just took us a little while to wake up as a team,” Holt said. “Our touches were a little off. I don’t really have a n explanation for why, but once we warmed up and started to get a little hungry, we got back in the rhythm of the team we think we can be. Once we get close to the goal and see our captains start to lead the way, the whole team rallies behind them and we start to play good soccer”.
The first goal was the most important against a team Holt said he expected to play a defensive game and attempt to take the Thoroughbreds to penalty kicks.
That plan scooted awry six minutes before the half, when Bosley fought off a defender inside the box, chased a well-touched pass from Harris and gained control of the ball. From there, all it took was a simple touch to beat Airport goalkeeper Cassie Shumpert. It was the Thoroughbreds’ 12th shot of the half, Tiffany Key Rings included a scorching strike from Bosley 15 minutes into the game that smashed off the crossbar.