When the high, arching shot sailed into the goal just beneath the crossbar in the second half of Saturday afternoon's Class A/AA girls' state soccer final, the players on the Notre Dame bench turned their heads in unison to look at the GPS scoreboard.
The numbers they saw there were unforgiving.
Defending state champion Christian Academy of Knoxville had just scored to take a 2-1 lead over the Lady Irish, with only 1:44 remaining on the clock. When that time ran out, Notre Dame's first trip to the girls' championship match since 1993 ended in defeat.
"CAK is such a good team," Lady Irish coach Jim Schermerhorn said. "We knew it would take our best effort to beat them, and we gave that. We just came up one goal short."
This week marked Schermerhorn's eighth time bringing the Lady Irish to the state tournament, and after four consecutive seasons of heartbreaking semifinal losses, they earned their first final berth with a 3-0 win Thursday. The reward for Notre Dame was a matchup with top-ranked and unbeaten CAK, but the Lady Irish quickly proved they could hang with the Lady Warriors.
"I was really pleased with the way we played," Schermerhorn said. "In our region games, we struggled a lot with nerves, but we really worked on controlling that. I think today the girls were nervous to a point, but they did a great job of going out there and being ready to play."
The first half ended without a goal, and Notre Dame created several dangerous opportunities early in the second period. Then, in the 47th minute, CAK was awarded a penalty kick, and Brittany Hoffman sent her shot just out of the reach of diving Notre Dame keeper Grace Courter.
"I was looking right at it and I didn't see a foul," Schermerhorn said of the penalty-kick call. "But I didn't have a good view, so I really couldn't tell. The thing about this team, though, is when they get down a goal, they don't get their heads down. I'm really proud of the way we responded to that goal. We just kept battling and kept the pressure on."
That pressure paid off with an increasing number of scoring chances, and with 21:44 left on the clock, Notre Dame's Kathryn Healy floated a high cross to Erin Freeman, who was in perfect position to head it in for the equalizer.
Both teams had several opportunities for go-ahead goals, but 19 minutes later, Paige Hoffman played a ball to her sister Brittany, who took possession about 30 yards out and fired the ball toward the goal. Courter jumped up with her hands stretched out to punch the ball away, but the shot fell in just over her head.
"As soon as she hit it, I knew it was going to be dangerous with the way it was curving and dropping," Schermerhorn said. "It was just a tough shot to deal with, especially with the sun in front of her."
Although Hoffman's goal left Notre Dame without enough time to come from behind again, Schermerhorn said his 17-3-3 team should remember that it made history by reaching the championship game, and know that the Lady Irish made him proud with the way they performed there.
"I think we can be proud of the whole experience of getting to the final, then stepping up and playing the way we did today," he said. "The girls were confident in the way we had prepared. They were ready to play this game, and now they know they can get to this point and play with any team in this division."
(E-mail Jaime Lackey at jaimenlackey@yahoo.com)
Class A/AA state final
CAK 2, Notre Dame 1
Goals: Brittany Hoffman 2 (CAK); Erin Freeman (ND). Assists: Paige Hoffman (CAK); Kathryn Healy (ND). Shots: Notre Dame, 9-8. Saves: Grace Courter 3 (ND). Records: CAK 23-0-1; Notre Dame 17-3-3.llow)