There is about one month left of soccer before the postseason begins in South Carolina and after another week of action, the standings remain mostly the same on the boys and girls sides. 

A few teams around Lexington County are at or near the top of their region standings and are hoping to stay there and give themselves better positioning in the state playoffs. 

The boys teams from River Bluff, Swansea and Batesburg-Leesville begin the week on top of their conference after a strong start in the first half of the season. The Gators earned two conference wins, the Tigers are 4-1 through five conference competitions and the Panthers are off to an 8-2 beginning. 

Dutch Fork, despite not being in first, remains the only undefeated team in the county, sitting at 14-0. The Silver Foxes are half a game behind River Bluff at 1-0 in conference games. 

The race for the 5A Region 4 crown will heat up this week as teams begin their second week of local games. Dutch Fork and River Bluff were scheduled to meet March 26 after the Chronicle’s press deadline. 

Lexington split their conference opening games last week, beating White Knoll and losing to River Bluff. The Timberwolves are struggling early, starting the region 0-3.

Batesburg-Leesville begins this week facing an opportunity to clinch their second consecutive region title. The team has two games against Fox Creek, and a win in both would earn the Panthers at least a share of the region crown, regardless of how the rest of the field finishes. 

Swansea, Gilbert and Brookland-Cayce are still first, second and third in the 3A Region 5 standings. 

The Tigers have played the most games, sitting at 4-1, but Gilbert is close behind at 2-1. Those two teams are set to face off March 28 in what could be a momentum-boosting contest. 

The game has the potential to be a thriller, similar to the previous meeting between the two teams. The Tigers and Indians met on March 12, and Gilbert won 4-3 in overtime. 

Moving on to a team that is not worried at all about region play, the Gray Collegiate War Eagles are enjoying an 11-1-2 record in a season that is unlike any other they have played. 

The War Eagles returned from a tournament trip to Gatlinburg, Tenn. early last week and had one contest against Dreher, which they won 2-0. Noah Mitchell and David Andrade scored the goals for Gray. 

The girls’ season is shaping up in a similar way as the boys’. 

Chapin and Airport start the week at the top of their conference’s standings and are looking dominant every time they touch the field. 

Airport is on top after being a team that controls the game both offensively and defensively. The team gave up its first goal in almost two weeks on March 18 in a 15-1 win over Westwood. 

The Eagle offense has been led by the Coleman sister duo, Vannessa and Victoria. The pair have a combined 42 goals this season.

The 5A Region 4 girls conference remains up for grabs with all teams within at least two games of each other with five to six more to go. 

Chapin is 2-0 and 14-1-2 overall. Lexington is close behind at 2-1 and 10-3-0 overall, and River Bluff, Dutch Fork and White Knoll follow in that order. 

Big Performances

Vanessa Coleman had a massive week for Airport, scoring two goals and two assists against South Florence and five goals and two assists against Airport. 

Gerardo Vera scored four goals for Gilbert in the Indians’ 9-1 victory over Denmark-Olar.

Kinlee Mozley finished with three goals and an assist to lead Gilbert to a win over Brookland-Cayce. 

Angel Garcia Gerardo had four goals across two games against Silver Bluff for Batesburg-Leesville last week. 

Juel Rivers led Swansea to a 3-0 record last week after recording six goals and two assists. 

Games to watch

Gilbert vs. Swansea boys — March 28 — 7 p.m. 

Lexington vs. Dutch Fork girls — March 28 — 5:30 p.m. 

Airport at South Aiken — March 28 — 7 p.m. 

Gray Collegiate vs. Greenbrier boys — March 29 — 7 p.m.