The St. James girls soccer team will spend their weekend playing playoff soccer.
The Sharks — Region V-5A champions and a No. 1 seed in the Class 5A postseason — fired out of the gate and never looked back in their second-round game against Cane Bay on Thursday night. Head coach Kate Jacobs’ team picked up a 3-0 win to advance to the quarterfinals for the third year in a row.
The Sharks scored two goals in the first 12 minutes of the contest to grab momentum that they wouldn’t surrender all night.
The win comes after the team received a bye in the first round of the playoffs.
“That was a good team, and I really liked playing against a team with physicality,” Jacobs said of Cane Bay. “I think that’s going to help prepare us for our game on Friday and any games we have further in the playoffs. I feel like that’s something we don’t get to see a ton, so I liked the physicality they brought.
“We had a [first-round] bye, and I actually would have preferred to play in that because I thought we came out a bit sluggish, but overall I felt like we did well.”
Goal-scorers for St. James were Addyson Milanov and Ruby Benjamin, a pair of sophomores who help lead the way for Jacobs’ group.
The Sharks had a strong 2024 regular season campaign, going a perfect 8-0 in region play. The team has lost just one game since March 5, a 1-0 non-region game to Oceanside on April 25.
“This group is enjoyable to watch,” Jacobs said. “Even some of their connections. It’s not like telepathy, but they just know where each other is at. I think we lacked that at the beginning of the year, but now that we have played together for a full season, we have so much team chemistry out there.”
Jacobs says despite graduating a group of strong seniors last season, the Sharks have maintained an energy that she enjoys watching in her team: one that is built for postseason play.
In the quarterfinals, St. James will see West Ashley, which defeated Socastee on Thursday in round two.
“The past couple years for us has been the same in that we just have some hard-working girls who love to have fun,” Jacobs said of her team. “This is a great opportunity for them out here, because high school soccer is a place where they can have fun and play with people they go to school with every day. We have a really good family mentality in our team that applies on the field.”
Below, find a recap of all of Thursday’s Horry County results and a look ahead to Friday’s area action.
Thursday’s Horry County playoff results
Baseball
5A Baseball
No. 2 Berkeley 12, No. 1 St. James 0
No. 3 Conway 4, No. 4 Cane Bay 0
At-Large White Knoll 4, No. 4 Carolina Forest 2
No. 4 Fort Dorchester 13, At-Large Socastee 10
3A Baseball
No. 1 Camden 3, No. 2 Loris 0
No. 4 Aynor 8, No. 3 Darlington 4
1A Baseball
No. 2 Green Sea Floyds 13, No. 1 Lowcountry Leadership 3
Softball
4A Softball
No. 2 Lugoff-Elgin 6, No. 4 North Myrtle Beach 2
No. 3 South Florence 11, At-Large Myrtle Beach 0
Girls Soccer
5A Girls Soccer
No. 1 St. James 3, No. 2 Cane Bay 0
No. 1 Wando 4, No. 2 Carolina Forest 0
No. 1 West Ashley 5, No. 4 Conway 0
4A Girls Soccer
No. 1 Lucy Beckham 6, No. 3 North Myrtle Beach 0
Friday’s Horry County playoff schedule
Baseball
Class 4A Baseball
No. 1 North Myrtle Beach vs. No. 2 Lucy Beckham
Softball
5A Softball
No. 1 St. James vs. West Ashley
Elimination round: No. 4 Conway vs. At-Large Socastee
Elimination round: No. 2 Carolina Forest vs. No. 4 White Knoll
3A Softball
No. 1 Aynor vs. No. 3 Dreher
No. 2 Loris at No. 1 Camden
1A Softball
No. 4 Green Sea Floyds at No. 2 Johnsonville
May 3, 2024 | Horry Independent, The (Conway, SC)
Author/Byline: Joe Wedra | Section: Sports