Still a great run for Lady Dawgs
Controversial pk ruling against BHS helps Houston win state
Bearden High School’s girls soccer team made a sixth consecutive trip to the TSSAA Class AAA State Soccer Tournament. The Lady Bulldogs were in search of an unprecedented fourth straight state title with Germantown Houston standing in the way.
Bearden, however, fell in heartbreaking fashion in a penalty kicks shootout Saturday, Oct. 26, at Boyd Buchanan’s David L. Boyd Field.
Hallie Bibee tied the match 1-1 in the 25th minute after charging Houston goalkeeper Laila McNamee couldn’t control the ball, giving Bibee an open 15 yard shot. Jayla Blue assisted.
The match remained tied 1-1 after 80 minutes of regulation play and 20 minutes of overtime. The Lady Mustangs prevailed in the shootout 4-2 — but the victory didn’t come without controversy.
Bearden senior goalkeeper Drew Tolley appeared to stop a shot by Houston’s Hallie McBride in the third round of PK’s. Tolley, however, was called for a foul on the shot and McBride buried the subsequent retake.
The assistant referee called Tolley for stepping in front of the goal-line to block McBride’s shot. Lady Bulldogs head coach Ryan Radcliffe, who has coached soccer at BHS for more than a decade, said he’s never seen the call made in a shootout.
“I’ll have to watch it,” Radcliffe said about viewing a replay. “I think Drew is pretty smart and knows as a goalie kind of what she has, and from my understanding of the rule you just have to have one foot on the line. And it looked like to me she took a step forward and made the save. But (the official) said that both feet were on the line.”
McBride’s second shot gave Houston (22-0-0) the deciding margin as McNamee, who scored in the shootout, blocked two of BHS’s attempts.
During the regular season, Houston shut out the Lady Bulldogs (20-2-1), 3-0, handing Bearden its first loss since 2020.
“It was going to be a battle. It was going to be a war,” said Houston head coach David Wolff, who won his 15th state title with the Mustangs and Lady Mustangs yet lost in state title matches to BHS in 2021 and 2022. “I told Ryan, this is the best non-region rivalry in the state.”
