Playing on Halloween morning, Chattanooga Christian treated themselves to five goals and had few surprises in a 5-0 D-I A/AA state quarterfinal win against Elizabethton at CCS.

Able to make solid runs which opened the Elizabethton defense, the Chargers (16-4-4) scored twice in the first 21 minutes and led 2-0 at halftime.

Savanna Cingilli scored on an open goal in the 12th minute,  followed by Hannah Henry's goal from Shelby Balch in the 21st minute.

"CCS played at a faster pace than we did today and those early goals set the tone of the match," said Elizabethton coach Bill McClay. "We were a little hesitant early on and did not play our best soccer today."

The Chargers kept the pressure on in the second half with an "own goal" by the Cyclones for a 3-0 lead in the 44th minute.

Goals by Ashley Simmons (from Hannah Henry) in the 50th minute and Annie Reynolds in the 79th minute accounted for the final two goals.

"Coach Sneller told us at halftime that we needed to get that third goal early in the second half to give us some breathing room since a two-goal lead is not that safe," said Hannah Henry.

State Semis: CCS will meet the winner of the Christ Presbyterian-Sacred Heart match Thursday at 4 p.m. at CCS.

"The third goal was huge for us as it is real tough to come back from a three goal deficit in the state tournament," said CCS coach Cal Sneller. "If Elizabethton had scored to make it 2-1 they would have been able to keep the pressure on us."

Playing on the Big Stage: "I think stepping on the big stage of the state tournament weighed on us and we didn't play our best soccer," said coach McClay. "During the season we were able to clear out those crossing shots that CCS had today. A combination of nerves, playing a team we had never seen before and being tentative were factors in the match.

"But we had a very good year as this is the first time Elizabethton has made it to the state tournament which is a great accomplishment for our players."

 Solid Defense: "We knew that Christine Hardin of Elizabethton wsa their key player and we made sure we had a player near her the entire match," said CCS sophomore midfielder Hannah Henry. "Stopping Christine and a shutout was a  team effort."

Hardin had a good scoring opportunity early on but could not convert. In the 75th minute she was 1-on-1 with the CCS keeper from 20 yards out which was saved and another shot from 25 yards out in the 78th minute was also stopped.

CCS has 13 shutouts in 24 matches.  

Good Runs Led to Early Goals: First Goal - A quick pass from Kendra Jolly to Beata Brock pulled the goalkeeper out ... a shot by Brock caromed off the keeper and Savanna Cingilli had the ball and an open goal for the 1-0 lead (12th minute)... Nine minutes later, Beata Brock, on a run down the right side, made a nice crossing shot in front of the goal as the ball was deflected off Shelby Balch to a waiting Hannah Henry who sent the ball to the far post. (21st minute) ... Third Goal (own goal) ... Fourth Goal:  Hannah Henry sent a through ball to a waiting Ashley Simmons who then found herself 1-on-1 with the keeper and scored from 15 yards. 

Chattanooga Christian 5, Elizabethton 0

Elizabethton 0 - 0  - - 0

CCS 2 - 3 - - 5

CCS -  Savanna Cingilli (Beata Brock), 1-0  ... 12th minute

CCS - Hannah Henry (Shelby Balch, Beata Brock), 2-0 ... 21st minute

CCS - own goal by Elizabethton 3-0 ... 44th minute

CCS - Ashley Simmons (Hannah Henry), 4-0 ... 50th minute

CCS - Annie Reynolds, 5-0 .... 79th minute

Statistics

Goals: CCS, 5-0

Shots: CCS, 15-7

Saves: 3-3 .... CCS (Ellen Stone, 3) ... Elizabethton (Reazyn DeMoss, 3)

Goal Kicks: 7-5

Corner Kicks: 2-2

Free Kicks: Elizabethton, 8-5

Fouls: CCS, 6-4

Hand Balls: CCS, 1-0

Offsides: CCS, 1-0

Indirect Kicks: CCS, 1-0

Crossing Shots: CCS, 6-4 

contact B.B. Branton at william.branton@comcast.net