By Thomas Grant Jr.
The SCISA soccer dynasty of Cardinal Newman will continue for another year.
The host team Cardinals defeated Porter-Gaud 6-2 to win the SCISA Class 4A title. It was their sixth consecutive SCISA title and they finished the season with a 13-8 record.
“We talked about having our best game of the year today and that was by far our most complete game,” said Cardinal Newman head coach Will Eudy, who won his 11th title at the school.
Cardinal Newman jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the first minute. It was the first of Tanner Battafarano’s three goals in the match.
After Mateo Tozzi tied it at 1-1, the Cardinals scored five unanswered goals. Battarfarano scored on his second goal in the 26th minute and Dakota Venugopal scored on a free kick to put Cardinal Newman up 3-1 at halftime.
Brayden Ruth made it 4-1 with a goal three minutes into the second half. Battarfarano followed with the hat trick and Chase Nelson added to the goal with 10 minutes left.
The margin of victory was more than enough as the Cyclones’ Graham Winterfield scored with two minutes left in the match.
“This is a special moment to my teammates,” Battafarano said. “We fought hard to get the job done and, in the end, state champions.”
Blythewood advances
The top-seed Blythewood boys soccer team defeated Clover 3-1 Saturday in the second round of the Class 5A Division I playoffs.
The Bengals will play host to Lexington, a 3-0 winner over Dutch Fork, in the third round Wednesday. On Tuesday, the Lady Bengals will play host to River Bluff in the third round. On Friday, they defeated Dorman 1-0.
In other playoff results, both Spring Valley teams saw their seasons to an end. The Lady Vikings lost 2-1 to West Ashley Friday and the boys’ team were shut out 3-0 by James Island Saturday.
(Feature Photo from Cardinal Newman High School)
