An upset victory over Grace Academy during the regular season gave a young Boyd-Buchanan girls' soccer team the right to host the District 5-A/AA championship match.
A goal from freshman Emily Hauke in the rematch Thursday night gave the Lady Bucs a long-awaited title.
After withstanding pressure from Grace in the first half, Boyd-Buchanan regrouped and scored the game winner midway through the second period. The young Lady Bucs made their 1-0 lead hold up, then celebrated a district title and a spot in next week's Region 3 tournament.
"A lot of the reason they were so excited and so tense is that it's been a long time, we think since the 1990s, that Boyd-Buchanan has won the district tournament," coach Todd Ledbetter said.
"It really means a lot to this team."
Ledbetter's team struggled in the first half against a Grace formation that he said worked effectively to counteract his team's style of play. That led to several second-half adjustments for the Lady Bucs.
"I thought we came out strong, but Grace put us under a lot of pressure throughout the course of the whole game," Ledbettter said. "I have to give a lot of credit to their coach for trying to disrupt our possession game and going so offensive minded. We had to come out in the second half and adjust how we were playing to bypass the pressure on us and get the ball to our forwards."
In the second period, the Lady Bucs looked for opportunities to take advantage of a counterattack, and found one with about 25 minutes left to play. Hauke was there to finish a ball from Logan Highfield, and put home what proved to be the only goal Boyd-Buchanan would need.
Despite several dangerous opportunities from Grace in the final minutes, the Lady Bucs held on to secure the title.
"The whole second half was all mental for us," Ledbetter said. "It was a struggle and they found a way to win. That's been our team all season long, staying tough under pressure and pulling out the wins."
With the victory, Boyd-Buchanan (12-5-2) earned the right to play at home again on Tuesday. The Lady Bucs will host the runner-up from District 6-A/AA in a Region 3 semifinal at 7, while Grace will travel to face the 6-A/AAA champion.
(E-mail Jaime Barrett at jaimenbarrett@gmail.com)