Two words have been the St. James girls soccer team’s main motivation this season – “state champions.”
But two little letters have been stuck in the Lady Sharks’ crawl from last season – “co” – as in co-region champions.
The Lady Sharks erased those letters from their collective memory on Wednesday with a 4-0 shutout of Socastee that allowed them to wrap up the regular season with a perfect 10-0 mark in Region VIII-AAA play.
Despite the fact that they wrapped up the region title last week, running the table was a big part of helping an old wound to heal so they can focus on the primary goal of winning a state title.
“We split with Myrtle Beach last year, so I think that ‘co’ in co-region championship was something they wanted to get rid of,” said St. James coach Curtis Freeman. “They’ve worked very hard this season and they deserve it.”
On Senior Night, when St. James bid farewell to 10 seniors who have had a hand in bringing region titles to the program, the Lady Sharks had the look of a team hungry for more this season.
Senior Sarah Breeden scored a pair of goals in the first half and classmate Jessi Campos added another as the Lady Sharks went up 3-0 at halftime. They, along with fellow seniors Taylor and Tiffany Marsh, Laura Johnson, Matney Carricker, Caitlyn Kirby, Jullianne Natali, Haley Lundquist and Sarina Way were honored after the game.
St. James sophmore Jenny Breeden, who assisted on two goals in the first half, got into the scoring act by converting an assist from Lundquist in the second half to close out the scoring. Goalkeeper Rhylee DeCrane posted another shutout.
St. James will open the playoffs Monday vs Cane Bay.
- Photo by Rancier Photography
