The smile was as wide and long as the Walnut Street Bridge. It was firmly affixed and it sparkled like the Hope Diamond. And it belonged to Notre Dame head coach Jim Schermerhorn. In his eighth trip to the Tennessee Girls State Soccer Tournament, his team is finally moving ahead to the finals after four straight semi-final losses.

The Lady Irish had dispatched the Lady Devils from Greeneville High by the score of 3-0 in a state semi-final match just moments before on Thursday evening at the Chattanooga Christian School soccer complex.

“I’ve been waiting a long time for this,” grinned the affable Schermerhorn after the match. It was easy to see the exhilaration in his eyes as he went on, “It feels great. I’m looking forward to Saturday and this smile is going to be here right through. I am really happy for the girls.”

As for the game, the coach said, “We got kind of lucky with our first goal. I think going up by a goal made our nerves go away. Our girls just stepped up and played.” The Lady Irish got their first goal in the second minute of play when a ball got behind Greeneville keeper Alyssa Crum. The Irish’s Liz Kidwell found the ball and got a quick pass to Carey Leiper who slipped the ball into the net from the crease.

In the 33rd minute of play, Danielle Ciabattone struck for her third goal of the tournament off an assist by Lexie Pierce.

Once again the Notre Dame defense stepped up to keep the majority of the play happening in the Lady Devils’ front door. It appeared that the Greeneville squad was not quite accustomed to the physical play of the Lady Irish but still fought hard. Greeneville’s first real shot on goal came in the 36th minute of play in the first half when junior Bree Wilhoit unleashed a shot that Notre Dame keeper Grace Courter wrapped up snuggly. Earlier Courter had snatched up an off the mark penalty kick after a slight bobble.

In the second half it was more of the back and forth play that ended the first period. In the 43rd minute Allison McKee, a junior mid-fielder for the Lady Devils, sent a shot towards the Notre Dame goal to open the scoring opportunities. However, the intrepid Courter was once again all over the ball to prevent the score.

The scoring was completed when Ciabattone got her fourth goal of the tournament at the 69 minute mark when Gaby Gurrola fed her the ball about 40 yards out from the crease. Ciabattone swung through the ball and like a cannon shot it found its mark for the Lady Irish’s third goal of the evening.

Notre Dame (16-2-3) will be making their third appearance in the state finals, having won the championship in 1988 and appearing again in 1993, on Saturday at noon at the GPS field. They will face the winner of Christ Presbyterian (20-2) from Nashville and Christian Academy of Knoxville (22-0-1). Greeneville, making its first-ever appearance in the state tournament ends its season with a record of 18-6-1.

Score at halftime: Notre Dame-2; Greeneville-0

Scoring:

First Half:
ND – Carey Leiper; Assist-Liz Kidwell; 38:05
ND – Danielle Ciabattone; Assist-Lexie Pierce; 7:02

Second Half:
ND – Ciabattone; Assist- Liz Kidwell; 11:46

Shots on goal: Notre Dame-11; Greeneville-7

Saves: Notre Dame (Grace Courter)-7; Greeneville (Alyssa Crum)-7

Fouls: Notre Dame-18; Greeneville-7

(You can contact Dennis Norwood at ladyvols56@att.net)

Notre Dame mid-fielder Danielle Ciabattone kicks the ball Thursday in TSSAA state soccer tournament action.
- Photo2 by Ken Wallace