Friday, November 6, 2009

Upside-Down Tournament Frenzy

Okay, okay, what's in the water down in the South Carolina Lowcountry, people?

One upset, maybe two, sure...but FOUR---as in ALL FOUR QUARTERFINALS????

And besides that--three out of four games go to overtime--and two of those to penalty kicks?

The Big South Women's Soccer Championship kicked off in Charleston, SC, Thursday...but nobody could have seen this coming...not all of it...

Game One

VMI tops Coastal Carolina in PKs after a 1-1 tie...no big deal you say, a 5-seed beats a 4-seed, happens all the time...but wait...

Game Two

Regular season champion and 1-seed Liberty falls to 8-seed Winthrop in PKs after a 0-0 tie...good grief, that could change the dynamics of the whole bracket, right? Have to turn your eyes to the 2 & 3 seeds now, right? Right?

Game Three

The only game decided in regulation on the day: 7-seed High Point ousts 2-seed Gardner-Webb 2-0 with a pair of second-half goals. Coming on the heels of WU's major upset over LU, GWU went from possible favorite to definite spectator in the span of a couple hours.

Game Four

All of which set up beautifully for the host, one might think, yes? Charleston Southern, the 3-seed and host team for the event was suddenly the top survivor in the bracket, simply by holding out for the day's last game (and what a wait, after two of the previous three went all the way to penalties). But the mojo of the day was not to be denied: into overtime they go, and out of overtime the result is clear--Radford 2, CSU 1.

So yes, the 1-2-3-4 teams are OUT and the 5-6-7-8 teams are IN with regards to the semifinals to be played Friday afternoon and evening...

Given that change of events, what could you possibly predict next? In other words, who you got now: 5-VMI vs. 8-Winthrop (4:30pm) and 7-HPU vs. 6-Radford (7pm)...I know I'm not making any guesses. Enjoy the games--and I look forward to seeing who makes (and wins) the final on Sunday! ((Pssst...all the games will be live on the Big South Network!))

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