Soccer Dawgs hold off Lady Ads
Ava Upshaw raced forward and delivered a swift kick with her left foot.
In most circumstances, the ball she just kicked would have sailed cleanly into the net for a goal.
Except this time, it landed in the padded palms of Bearden freshman keeper Fallyn Baker, whose save and clean sheet combined with three timely goals in a 3-0 Bearden win last Thursday, Sept. 24.
“That goalie made an awesome save on Ava, and if we put that in, it becomes a little more interesting,” Farragut coach Jessica Burkhart said moments later. “I feel like we were inconsistent and didn’t have everybody on at the same time. That’s hard to do when you’re playing a team as well-built as Bearden, so we just didn’t have enough players on the field on at all times.
“It’s frustrating because we weren’t all on at the same time, but we also weren’t off by much. We still created some things that, if the ball had bounced our way a little more,
maybe the outcome is a little different.”
As-is, though, Farragut came into the final week of the postseason still seeking its first win over Bearden since 2017, per FHS SID Jack Tate.
The teams could meet in the postseason, as they have four times, though the Dawgs currently carry a 13-game win streak in the series.
And in the latest edition, BHS coach Ryan Radcliffe looked for a youth movement to carry the torch.
“They’ve got some horses, some girls that are big and strong and physical, and
we knew it was going to be a challenge and would take a lot out of us,” Radcliffe said.
“But that’s been our message — that it’s not supposed to
be easy. It’s not like getting out of our district or state
or anything ever is. You just hope they know that it’s worth it.”
“I was really proud of how much youth we had on the field,” he added. “That was my concern for girls that
have never experienced this game. To me, they reacted very well.”
Most of the first half featured a stalemate between the squads, but junior Landree Horner found the back of
the net through a mass of bodies with 5:54 left in the first half.
Kaitlyn Zalk scored the second goal for Bearden with 21:43 to play, and a final score from Bulldog senior Madi Bowlin iced the win exactly 20 minutes later.
“I think a lot of games, we’ve been off with little things, still creating a lot of chances,” Radcliffe said.
Another big moment came with a late whistle on the Lady Ads, as Upshaw collided with Baker and her Bearden teammate, Taylor Cope.
Burkhart noted the explanation she received from the
official, who cited a push on the Farragut side.
“For risk of not getting fined, I would say that the ref told me my girl pushed the other girl in the back,” Burkhart said. “From what I saw — well, we’ll say she allegedly pushed the girl in the back, so he called a foul. I have to trust he saw it better than me.”
The Lady Ads looked to regroup this week, facing Maryville on Tuesday, Sept. 29, in the regular-season finale.
The Lady Bulldogs took on West at home that same night, as Bearden hoped for a similar result as last week.
turned in last week.
“You wouldn’t know we have a 13- or 14-year-old in the net tonight,” Radcliffe added of Baker last Thursday. “She was massive. And we’ve got a freshman at right back too. We held our own. Their strength for Farragut is those two girls up top with how good they are, and we had to adjust some things. But we defended in numbers and stepped up in big moments.”
