Avery 2, South Carolina 0
- Lucian@going2paris.net
- 2 days ago
- 4 min read
Camden, South Carolina
Spring Hill Suites (15,500 points)
August 9, 2025
Last night I visited Stone Stadium on the campus of the University of South Carolina to watch the Duke Blue Devils take on the Gamecocks in a preseason women's soccer game. My great niece Avery entered the game with 20 minutes left in the first half and immediately brought energy to the field. I'm no soccer expert but she has a remarkable presence on the field. She attacks the ball and causes chaos, knows how to position herself to receive open passes, makes pinpoint passes and is Death to the opposing goalie.
The score at halftime was 0-0, although it was clear to me that Duke was the better team. #4 in the country in preseaon polls.
Avery started the second half. Somewhere around 12 minutes into the half, she was in front of the goal with a group of Gamecocks and Devils. The ball came to her and boom -- back of the net! 1-0. If memory serves, prior to that she had a shot from the top of the box that shock the crossbar, came down straight but apparently did not cross completely over the goal line.
It was only a few minutes later when Avery had the ball on the left of the goal, near the top of the box. She was one-on-one with the goalie. I've seen Avery play enough to know this wasn't fair to the goalie. BOOM AGAIN! I think her teammates and coaches were a bit in disbelief. Avery has not yet had a class with her newly arriving freshman class at Duke and she has scored three goals in six games.
Very cool to watch.
Some information on Columbia, the University of South Carolina and Camden.
Columbia
Columbia is the capital city of the U.S. state of South Carolina. It is the second-most populous city in the state, with a population of 136,632 at the 2020 census, while the Columbia metropolitan area has an estimated 870,000 residents. The city serves as the county seat of Richland County, and portions of the city extend into neighboring Lexington County and Kershaw County. The name "Columbia", a poetic term referring to the U.S., derives from the name of Christopher Columbus, who explored the Caribbean on behalf of the Spanish Empire. The name of the city is often abbreviated as "Cola", leading to its nickname "Soda City".
The city, located just northwest of the geographic center of South Carolina, was the center of population of South Carolina as of 2020. It is also the primary city of the Midlands region of the state. It lies at the confluence of the Saluda River and the Broad River, which merge at Columbia to form the Congaree River. As the state capital, Columbia is the site of the South Carolina State House, the center of government for the state. In 1860, the South Carolina Secession Convention took place in Columbia; delegates voted for secession, making South Carolina the first state to leave the Union in the events leading up to the Civil War.
Columbia is home to the University of South Carolina, the state's flagship public university and the largest in the state. The area has benefited from Congressional support for military installations in the South. Columbia is the site of Fort Jackson, the largest United States Army installation for Basic Combat Training. Twenty miles to the east of the city is McEntire Joint National Guard Base, which is operated by the U.S. Air Force and is used as a training base for the 169th Fighter Wing of the South Carolina Air National Guard.
More information on Columbia:
University of South Carolina
The University of South Carolina (USC, SC, or Carolina) is a public research university in Columbia, South Carolina, United States. Founded in 1801 as South Carolina College, It is the flagship of the University of South Carolina System and the largest university in the state by enrollment. Its main campus is on over 359 acres (145 ha) in downtown Columbia, close to the South Carolina State House. There are over 38,000 students at the Columbia campus. The university is classified among "R1: Doctoral Universities with Highest Research Activity".[6] It houses the largest collection of Robert Burns and Scottish literature materials outside Scotland and the world's largest Ernest Hemingway collection.
More information:
Camden
A bit embarrassing to admit this is my first time to Camden. It is often compared to my birth place of Aiken because they both have a strong horse community. I have driven around a bit -- the town could pretty much be any Southern own of around 8,000 people. Decently pretty downtown, wide streets. All the fast food places you can imagine with your Walmart, Big Lots, Lowes. auto stores. There is no unifying theme -- except for the downtown strip which is old buildings which are nicely kept up. It all just looks thrown together -- like so many other American towns and cities.
Gosh, I am so critical!!
Camden is the largest city in and the county seat of Kershaw County, South Carolina, United States. The population was 7,764 in the 2020 census, and the 2022 population estimate is 8,213. It is part of the Columbia, South Carolina, Metropolitan Statistical Area. Camden is the oldest inland city in South Carolina, and home to the Carolina Cup and the National Steeplechase Museum.
More information:
Comments