Lady Ads soccer wins 4-AAA tourney title 2-0 vs. M’ville
Farragut High School’s girls soccer team entered last week’s District 4-AAA Tournament championship match riding a crest that saw it win 13 consecutive games.
Well, the Lady Admirals extended their winning streak to 14 when they defeated Maryville 2-0 to win the district tournament title on Thursday, Oct. 12 before a spirited audience at Farragut Soccer Stadium.
The win enabled FHS [14-5-0] to advance to the Region 2-AAA Tournament and host a semifinal game Tuesday, Oct. 17. [Results of Farragut’s semifinal game against Oak Ridge were not available at press deadline].
But a victory would have given the Lady Ads an opportunity to play for a region championship tonight [Thursday, Oct. 19] and seal a berth in the in State Sectional round Saturday, Oct. 21.
Farragut achieved all this after losing its first five games of the season. But despite the slow start, the Lady Ads continued to persevere.
And they would eventually turn things around in a big way.
FHS made a perfect run through a tough District 4-AAA slate and it would win the postseason tournament in impressive fashion.
And no one associated with Farragut’s girls soccer program was really surprised by the season’s success story.
“I feel like we knew that we had this in us,” said Lady Admirals senior Megan MacLean, who scored the first goal last week against the Lady Rebels [10-4-5]. “Now, we’ve won 14 in a row and we’ve won the district championship.”
In the title match, Maryville and the Lady Admirals struggled through a fairly even first half. But MacLean broke a scoreless deadlock when she tallied in the 40th minute.
Her goal gave Farragut a 1-0 lead with 46.5 seconds remaining in the first half.
After the break, the Lady Admirals would take control.
“I think, in the first half, it was an even game,” Lady Rebels head coach Steve Feather said. “But Farragut came out in the second half and they dominated us. They dominated possession and they passed the ball around really well.
“The Farragut team figured out how to open their shape and pass it around us. In the first half, we played well in transition, and we had a solid effort for 30 minutes,” he added
Farragut head coach Drew Payne said the district championship “does feel really good, especially because of the way we’re playing. I’m a little bit stubborn as a coach.
“I mean, I want to win games. But how we win games is by possessing the ball,” he added. “We’ve been doing that pretty well lately and tonight, we epitomized that. I have a good group of girls and I’m very proud of them.”
Farragut took a 2-0 lead when Emilie Guigou scored in the 54th minute.
“This district is tough and it was a rough start for us,” Guigou said. “But we got back on our feet and we went to work.
“Nobody, especially our seniors, wanted to go out like that.”
The Lady Admirals weren’t the only area team to claim a district championship.
The Bearden Lady Bulldogs claimed the District 2-AAA Title when the knocked off West High 7-0 at Turner-Allender Field late last week.
Bearden (14-4-1) wasted little time jumping on Knox County’s Lady Rebels.
“We came out and we played well,” Lady Bulldogs coach Ryan Radcliffe. “I thought we came out and we took care of business.
“That’s what you have to do at tournament time. If you have a bad night, your season ends.”
Alex Smith and Abby Brewer each tallied twice for BHS while Ashtyn Glover, Addie Crawford and Emily Carlevato each added a marker.
Bearden hosted Kingsport Dobyns-Bennett Tuesday in an elimination match of the Region 1-AAA Tournament but results were unavailable at press time.
