Soccer action in the area is getting serious as the entirety of Lexington County schools begin region competition. 

Some teams spent the last week finishing up their out-of-region schedule, while others played their second or third conference match. Moving forward, games will mostly be interregional contests with an occasional out-of-conference opponent. 

Dutch Fork’s boys are the only remaining unbeaten team in the county. The Silver Foxes began this week 12-0 after a 6-1 win and 4-0 win over Ben Lippen and Brookland-Cayce.

The Silver Foxes have dominated their competition all season. Even more impressive, Ben Lippen’s goal from last week is the only goal the team has allowed at all this year. In 12 games, Dutch Fork is outscoring its opponents 55-1. 

Senior David Liboyi has been the team’s main scoring threat with 21 goals and eight assists so far. Aside from Liboyi, the rest of the offense usually comes via committee with 13 other players recording a goal this season. 

Dutch Fork will begin 5A Region 4 play this week with games against White Knoll and Chapin, plus a non-region game versus Sumter. 

The River Bluff boys were close to joining their region rivals in the undefeated club, but the Gators suffered their first loss of the season last week, dropping a game against Summerville 1-0 March 12. 

River Bluff got a head start on their regional foes after picking up the first conference win of the season against White Knoll, 5-0. 

JJ Burns scored a hat trick and added an assist to help lead the Gators to a shutout. Tripp Bryant and Dunning had a goal apiece and combined for three assists. 

This week, the Gators are scheduled to play one region game against Lexington. The Wildcats are 7-3-1 this year and will look to upset the Gators in their first region contest. 

The 3A Region 5 boys standings remain close two weeks into the action with all three of its Lexington County representatives sitting in the top spots. 

Gilbert is in first at 2-0 after sneaking past Swansea, 4-3 in overtime in the Indians’ lone game last week. Gavin Hardwick scored all four goals for the team, including the game-winner in sudden-death overtime. 

Swansea’s loss bumped the Tigers down to second place to be tied with Brookland-Cayce at 2-1. The Bearcats picked up their first region loss last week as well, dropping a gritty 2-1 contest against Dreher. 

Elsewhere around the county, the Gray Collegiate boys team is coming back from a trip to Gatlinburg, Tennessee for a tournament. The War Eagles found success against unfamiliar competition winning two games and tying another to improve to 10-1-2 this year. 

Irmo sits under .500 on the season but won its only game last week against Richland Northeast to start 1-0 in its region. The team will try to keep the momentum going against A.C. Flora and Westwood this week. 

In 2A, Batesburg-Leesville picked up its second loss this year, losing to Strom Thurmond to drop to 6-2. The Panthers avenged that loss a few days later, beating Strom Thurmond 3-1 to even their region record at one win and one loss. 

Two girls teams in Lexington County are making noise with their starts this year. 

Chapin and Airport’s girls teams both have just one loss this year. The two teams have played similar games this season and have almost identical point totals with Chapin outscoring their opponents 50-6 and Airport 50-7.

Airport is the only team in their conference to have played four region games entering this week. The team sits in second place at 3-1 with a loss to first-place Aiken. Fortunately, the team will have an opportunity to make up for that loss on March 22. 

Chapin was the lone 5A Region 4 team with a region win entering this week after defeating Lexington 1-0 last week. Dutch Fork, River Bluff and Lexington are all behind now but that can quickly change with all three teams doing well this season. 

Other girls teams in the county experienced high and low points and are sitting in the middle of the pack in their conference. 

Brookland-Cayce’s girls were 8-2-2 overall and tied for second with a 6-5 Gilbert girls team entering this week. Both teams are 2-1 in their region with losses to first-place Dreher. 

Brookland-Cayce and Gilbert were scheduled to see each other Tuesday after the Chronicle’s press deadline. 

Trailing Brookland-Cayce and Gilbert is Swansea, who is 1-2 in conference play and 3-2 overall. The Tigers have dropped their last two games by a combined score of 15-0 after winning their region opener 3-0. 

Pelion and Batesburg-Leesville’s girls teams are still trying to find their path to success in 2A, holding a combined record of 1-11-1.

This week, every team around the county will have officially started region play. As we reach the season’s halfway point, the standings are starting to develop and a sense of who does and doesn’t have a chance to compete in the playoffs becomes more clear. 

Big Performances

Victoria Coleman scored four goals and added an assist for Airport in the Eagles’ win against Orangeburg-Wilkinson. 

Gavin Hardwick scored four goals, including a game-winner, for the Gilbert boys team in their region win over Swansea. 

Jennifer Kujawa had a hat trick and an assist for Chapin in their 15-0 win over Woodruff.

JJ Burns had three goals and an assist for the River Bluff boys team last week against White Knoll. 

Adriana Dunat earned a hat trick for Lexington in the Wildcats win against Hammond last week.

Games to watch this week

Lexington vs. White Knoll boys — March 21 — 7:30 p.m.

Dutch Fork vs. Chapin girls — March 22 — 7:00 p.m.

River Bluff vs. T.L. Hanna boys — March 22 — 7:30 p.m.

Lexington vs. Providence — March 23 — 11:00 a.m.