Lady Bulldogs victorious
And it all added up to the Lady Bulldogs having to win the tournament on the road.
Bearden and Knoxville West played to a draw in their regular-season match at Bill Wilson Field last month.
The draw resulted in a tie-breaking coin flip won by the Lady Rebels, meaning the Lady Bulldogs would have to make a return to Marble City for the championship match Thursday night.
This time, Bearden would emerge victorious, claiming a 5-0 victory over the top-seeded Lady Rebels. In notching the victory, the Lady Bulldogs unleashed their frustration over having to go on the road.
“I was a little frustrated and I think the girls were a
little frustrated because we were not hosting and not getting to play on our field,” Bearden coach Ryan Radcliffe said. “We like our field and, hopefully, we’ll get to see them again (in the Region 2-AAA Championship match on Thursday) and it will be on our field.”
The Lady Bulldogs made sure their next match would be contested within the friendly confines of Turner-Allender Field. They hosted Oak Ridge in the regional semifinals on Tuesday. Results were not available at press time.
They took a 1-0 lead when Jayla Blue converted a penalty kick. Blue tallied the first goal in the 32nd minute after the Lady Rebels were whistled for a foul in the goal box.
Blue’s marker represented the only scoring in the first half. Bearden, however, wasted little time finding the back of the net once play resumed after the break.
The Lady Bulldogs extended their advantage to 2-0 when Tyler Roth tallied just two minutes into the second half.
Then, the rout was on.
Madi Bowlin scored another goal for the Lady Bulldogs in the 45th minute of the match.
Blue added her second goal of the game when she scored on a breakaway off an assist from Blue, making the score 4-0 in the 74th minute.
Bearden senior Reagan Walden closed out the scoring in the match as she tallied with just 31.7 seconds remaining.
Despite the seemingly lopsided score, Radcliffe said the Lady Rebels (13-2-1) provided his side (14-2-1) with a challenge.
“They’re a good team and they’re a physical team, and they have a lot of athleticism,” Radcliffe said of the Lady Rebels. “We’re usually the team with the athleticism,
but they stack up right there with us.”
