One of the biggest pre-season boys soccer tournaments in South Carolina was held in Lexington County last week, with both championships going to local teams. 

Dutch Fork and River Bluff were named silver and gold division champions of the Capital City Cup after winning the championship games Sunday, Feb. 25. The teams were two of 25 South Carolina soccer programs participating. 

Seven teams from Lexington County took part in the tournament, with Gray Collegiate, Chapin, White Knoll, Irmo and American Leadership Academy also participating. 

“[Playing] is very beneficial, especially with the way our tournament kind of handed itself to us,” Dutch Fork head coach Todd Woodward said. “I was able to play everybody just about in every game. So, having that experience from the top to the bottom really helps us out moving forward.”

The competition began Tuesday, Feb. 20. Each team played at least two round-robin games before going into tournament play. 

Games were played at three different Lexington County schools — Chapin, Gray Collegiate and River Bluff — with the championship games taking place at Gray. 

Dutch Fork dominated throughout the tournament. The Silver Foxes gave up zero goals in their four games and scored 33.

“It says a lot to the testament of what we’ve done so far in practices and the team coming together,” Woodward said. “Just having these guys really come together in this second year of me being back … it’s really kind of come together quicker than I expected.”

The team played a close semifinal, beating Irmo 2-0 just before winning the championship on Sunday. Dutch Fork went on to beat Lugoff-Elgin 8-0 to claim the silver division championship. 

David Liboyi was named silver bracket MVP. Keeper Max Werner got an opportunity to play out of net and wound up scoring a hat trick, including a 30-foot shot to cap things for the Silver Foxes. 

River Bluff and Chapin went head-to-head in a rematch of last year’s championship game, which the Eagles won. 

This time, though, the Gators got the final bite, winning 2-1 after a go-ahead goal in the 70th minute from MVP Logan Watchinski. 

“I think we were just in our defensive half, and J. J. Burns just smacked it up trying to clear it, and it took a bad bounce off their defender,” Watchinski said.”They had all three of their defenders back there. But they were all running backward, I was running forward. I just had to take a touch wide and take a shot.”

This game was also a chance for two region rivals to get a first look at each other before games that impact the standings. 

“We see what they have now. A very physical team, big team that is a well-coached team,” Chapin coach Bob Taylor said. “So, we’ll get to work with what we need to do, and we’ll hopefully have something for them next time. I believe my boys will be up for the challenge the next couple of times.”

The Gators outscored their opponents 18-3 throughout the tournament. Head coach Phil Savitz said he was impressed with his team’s resiliency through the competition. 

“They are competitive, and they like each other, and they play for each other,” Savitz said. “Those are qualities that any coach will tell you makes it fun to be around them and to coach them. I think they’ve got a high ceiling.”

Full Capital City Cup Scoreboard  

Tuesday, February 20

A.C. Flora 1, Gray Collegiate 1

South Aiken 2, Spring Valley 2

White Knoll 1, Dreher 1

Dutch Fork 9, American Leadership Academy 0

Wednesday, February 21

Philip Simmons 3, Providence Athletic Club 1

A.C. Flora 2, South Aiken 0

Blythewood 0, Chapin 0

Greenville Tech 1, Dreher 0

White Knoll 2, Lugoff-Elgin 1

Camden 3, Richland Northeast 0

Wando 4, Andrew Jackson 0

Irmo 4, Buford 0

Thursday, February 22

Irmo 2, Providence Athletic Club 0

Chapin 5, Aiken 0

Lugoff-Elgin 3, Dreher 1

Gray Collegiate 5, South Aiken 0

Philip Simmons 1, Buford 0

River Bluff 5, Andrew Jackson 1

Friday, February 23

Spring Valley 2, A.C. Flora 2

Chapin 1, Woodmont 0

Dutch Fork 6, Richland Northeast 0

Blythewood 3, Aiken 0

Camden 7, American Leadership Academy 0

River Bluff 3, Carolina Forest 0

Saturday, February 24

Lugoff-Elgin 3, Greenville Tech 0

Dutch Fork 8, Camden 0

Philip Simmons 3, Irmo 1

Greenville Tech 4, White Knoll 1

Carolina Forest 2, Westside 0

Gray Collegiate 1, Spring Valley 0

Blythewood 4, Woodmont 0

River Bluff 1, Wando 0

Aiken 3, Woodmont 1

Richland Northeast 3, American Leadership Academy 0

Providence Athletic Club 2, Buford 1

Wando 7, Carolina Forest 0

Sunday, February 25

Dutch Fork 2, Irmo 0

Chapin 0, Gray Collegiate 0 ( 4-2 Chapin PK) 

Lugoff-Elgin 1, Philip Simmons 1 (7-8 Lugoff-Elgin PK) 

River Bluff 7, Blythewood 1

Dutch Fork 8, Lugoff-Elgin 0; (Silver Division Championship) 

River Bluff 2, Chapin 1; (Gold Division Championship)