Hixson's senior boys' soccer players have spent their careers dreaming about the win that finally came Thursday night.

With a 2-0 victory at Notre Dame, the Wildcats not only spoiled senior night for the traditional 6-A/AA power, but also effectively secured a No. 3 seeding for the district tournament that starts in two weeks.

"This is big," first-year Hixson head coach Jeff Dean said. "But I felt coming in like we would have a good chance. We've played with everybody all year."

Hixson took control of the tempo early, and minutes after narrowly missing on a shot that sailed over the net, its efforts paid off with a goal in the 25th minute. Kevin Carrillo played a ball to Mauricio Moreno, who sent a hard shot from about 15 yards out into the upper left corner.

The Wildcats built on their momentum with just under nine minutes remaining in the first half when Jacob Barber followed a corner from Nau Alvares-Calderon into the net to give Hixson a 2-0 lead.

"We started out great," Dean said. "I was very happy with the energy, and our defense was unbelievable for the whole game. An early goal is good, but 2-0 on Notre Dame is scary. At no point during the game was I ever comfortable. Notre Dame is very capable of coming back from that."

And the Irish might have done just that, if not for the performance of one of their former players. Hixson senior goalkeeper Thomas Murphy, who led Notre Dame to the state semifinals in 2007 before transferring, made several outstanding saves to keep the shutout intact.

Late in the first half, Murphy dove to his knees to grab an Irish header, then punched away the ensuing corner kick. In the second period, which featured a shot off the crossbar from Notre Dame's Anthony Pagnani, the keeper punched away several more balls and made a kicksave on another of the Irish's dangerous opportunities.

"In the second half, they had a lot of good chances," Dean said. "Thomas had some tremendous saves that kept us in the game. He was really pumped up for this game. I think he felt like he had something to prove."

Hixson defender Dennis Miller also cleared away several dangerous balls in the second period to help his team improve to 11-3 overall and 4-2 in 6-A/AA.

A district loss to an East Ridge team that tied Notre Dame and, like Hixson, lost to Chattanooga Christian, will prevent the Wildcats from claiming second place in the regular-season standings, but Dean and his players still had plenty of reasons to celebrate Thursday's win.

"This is huge for the guys," Dean said. "To get this win going into the district tournament will give us a lot of confidence. It's been a long time coming for Hixson, and I'm proud of every one of these guys."

HIXSON 2, NOTRE DAME 0
Halftime score: 2-0. Goals: Mauricio Moreno, Jacob Barber. Assists: Kevin Carrillo, Nau Alvares-Calderon. Shots: Notre Dame, 12-11. Saves: Thomas Murphy 5 (H). Other standouts: Dennis Miller, Hector Alvarez, Justin Barr (H). Records: Hixson 11-3, 4-2.

(E-mail Jaime Lackey at jaimenlackey@yahoo.com)