Bishops power to easy win

On Senior Night at Bishop England High School, senior players were asked to name their favorite memories of BE soccer. Many of them singled out the Bishops' pair of shootout victories over rival Wando this season.

The top-ranked Bishops boys team took a first step toward adding a sixth straight state title to their memory scrapbook Thursday night, dismissing Silver Bluff, 7-1, in the second round of the Class AA Lower State playoffs.

Bishop England (18-4-3), which received a first-round bye, will play host to Hanahan on Saturday with a berth in the Lower State final on the line.

Seniors Joseph Santos and Brant Morrison each scored twice for the Bishops, while senior Zachary Epstein, junior Ruslan Olbrych and junior Winslow Carroll added goals.

"The boys executed well tonight," said Bishops coach Ed Khouri. "We had some good combinations going, so we had a little rhythm going. Defensively, we are there, so I hope we can play like this Saturday."

Khouri, whose program has won 14 state titles over the years, described the season as "up and down" for the Bishops, who beat Class AAAA power Wando by scores of 1-0 and 2-1, but also lost twice to West Ashley and once to Pinewood Prep.

"Hopefully on Saturday, we can repeat the performance we had here tonight," Khouri said. "This team from Silver Bluff did well. It is the first team for a long time that we played in our first game that did well."

Silver Bluff (10-5) trailed 3-0 at halftime, but was down 7-0 before Jhonny Zuniga scored the Bulldogs' only goal against BE reserves with less than five minutes left in the match.

BE scored three goals in an eight-minute stretch midway through the first half, with Santos scoring off a cross from Morrison to get things rolling. Olbrych ran down a long ball and scored unassisted, and Epstein used his left foot to beat keeper Aaron Frazier off a Santos pass to make it 3-0.

The Morrison-to-Santos combo clicked again 10 minutes into the second half, and then Morrison scored his first goal on a header to make it 5-0, the assist going to James Baldwin. Morrison got his second goal on Santos' second assist to make it 6-0, and Carroll's goal was assisted by Michael Masciale. Keeper Brandon Costa had three saves for the Bishops, who had a 34-4 edge in shots.