Here are game recaps for our 7-0 season so far!

1-0 Christ Church on Friday, March 1st

During a hot and sweaty Friday afternoon with an early out at 12:30 for a game at District 4 stadium at 2:00, YOUR academic Magnet Raptors played Christ Church, a 3A team that needed a charter bus to get to the game. During a hard-fought battle, an absolute dog of a player, Jaidon Dailey, got a nice header goal off of a beautiful corner taken by Jack Keiffer. During the game, Junior from SOA Vadym Stephenson got a yellow for a flagrant tackle, and the team managed to come away from a higher-division team with our first win of the regular season.

2-1 Beckham on March 2nd

This thrilling game kicked off with early Raptor dominance as Magnet held possession and created several chances. The pressure added up as Keon Hutchins dunked on the Beckham defenders to make it 1-0 from a corner. Minutes later Brady Smith knocked in a ball from close range following a free kick giving us a big lead into halftime. Beckham came out to the 2nd half more alive though as one disallowed offside goal was headed in, as well as a scrappy consolation goal to make it 2-1. The Raptors dug in their heels though to defend the lead until the final whistle resulting in a massive win.

1-0 Riverside on March 3rd

The Charleston Soccer Shootout final was played out between us and Riverside, the defending 4A State Champions who have won 4A four times in a row, a team we also knocked out of the CSS last season. This nervy final saw constant tackles in the midfield with very few big chances for either side. It was only until overtime, on a Jack Keifer corner kick that Brady Smith leaped above the Riverside defenders to head the ball into the back of the net winning the tournament! His performances rewarded him the Player of the Tournament award as Magnet brought home the trophy.

9-0 Palmetto Scholars on March 4th

Simply a dominant performance from the Raptors against a smaller school that saw the side cruise to a massive win whilst displaying sportsmanship and restraint, in order to maintain a respectful game environment.

3-1 Summerville on March 7th

This match was about 40 minutes from Magnet at one of the best stadiums in the area as the Green Wave have a massive jumbotron and impressive pre-game light sequence. Having won here 6-0 last year, we were very excited to play this game, but after a Cesa shot against the bar, Summerville took a surprising lead 1-0. The Raptors hit back quickly though as a brilliant Ian Williams (me) through ball found the path of Jaidon Dailey’s run as he rounded the keeper and slotted it into the net to equalize. Minutes later, James Benetti (6’3) knocked in a ball bouncing around the box from a corner into the net to take the lead. From here the Raptors had most of the ball, adding a 3rd goal in the second half from a terrific Aiden Ruggiero volley inside the box. Despite the painful turf and heckling Summerville fans, our Raptors pulled out a comfortable win against a team much improved from last season.

3-2 Lucy Beckham  on the eleventh of March

Let me set the scene. Once again, your Raptors went up by 2 goals in the early minutes of the game. This is very similar to how they went up for an early 2-0 lead your Raptors had at the early sections of the last game. After halftime, the Raptors started to play a little more relaxed, while the Bengals came out swinging, scoring 2 goals quickly and making the game tied at 2-2 for a solid section of the game. With about ten minutes left in the game, once again game and team leader Aiden Ruggerio saved the game, with an awesome knee slide right into the rest of the awaiting Raptors who quickly formed a dog pile around the game-winner. This game-winner was similar to Aiden’s goal against Bishop England in the playoffs last year, (when the Raptors were down by 1 and in extra time scored 2 goals to beat the home team to advance to the next game of the playoffs). We love you Aiden Ruggerio, and the other dog who scored the goal against Bishop England who both writers have forgotten their name.

8-0 Timberland on March 13th

This was a fun away game to play, even though it was a solid hour away from anything near Academic Magnet. Both of the writers of this article drove up together, with the drive being driven by goalie and team backup spirit leader Adi Katan, who loved two things while driving, being on his phone and talking. He sure does love to talk his little heart out! This game was off to a slow start at first, with the game only being 2-0 at halftime. After a fun switch in pace, goals started to fly in the second half, with the team scoring lots of goals and having a good time playing on the field. Multiple players nearly suffered injuries against this team as a very tough tackle against defender Keon Hutchins who got hurt kicking the ball against another player who was also kicking the ball. Both players immediately went down in front of the other team’s goal, (of course it was there) and the rest is history. We hope Keon has the speediest of recoveries, and we are back to talking about the game. The drive back was crazy and fun, with both writers scared for their lives with the phone-addicted backup bench leader Adi Katan driving.

To support the team please attend games (schedule below) and check out concessions / team merch!

Philip Simmons Away – Mar 18th

Woodland at D4 – Mar 20th

AC Flora at Ravenel – Mar 22nd

West Ashley Away – Mar 27th

Myrtle Beach Away – Mar 28th

Christian Academy of Myrtle Beach Away – Mar 28th

Burke Away – April 1st

Andrews Away – April 3rd

Timberland at Ravenel – April 8th

Philip Simmons at Ravenel – April 9th

Woodland Away – April 22

Burke at D4 – April 24th

Hardeeville Away – April 29th

Playoff Dates

May 5th 

May 8th

May 12th

May 15th Lower State Final

May 22nd State Championship Final