Boyd-Buchanan's Ayden Otero and CCS's Austin Berry work for a ball.
photo by Greg Davick
The Bucs of Boyd-Buchanan hosted Chattanooga Christian School Saturday night in a battle for the Division II-A District 2 boys soccer championship.
CCS took a two goal lead with 52 minutes left but the Bucs scored three unanswered goals in the final 16 minutes to win the title, 3-2. Ayden Otero had two goals and Daniel Ingram had one.
"We have never been so proud of our team," Boyd-Buchanan head coach Dustin Walker said after the win.
"We found out before the game that two of our all-district team players would not be available due to injuries. When we went down two nil, we could have folded but they didn't. We had so many guys step up and many of them played positions they have never played."
CCS got on the board late in the first half when senior River Sarrett ripped a shot from 35 yards out that went past Boyd goalkeeper Harrison VanEaton.
It was 1-0 at the half.
CCS took a 2-0 lead when Mack Erickson headed in a corner by Erick Manirakiza in the 52nd minute.
The Bucs kept fighting and that paid off in the 64th minute when Ayden Otero finished a deflection by CCS keeper Gaines Tallent.
In the 72nd minute, Daniel Ingram scored on a hard shot to tie the game.
Otero scored the game winner in the final two minutes of the game, giving the Bucs the distirct championship.
Both teams advance to region play and will host games on Tuesday.
"We have had a tough stretch of games this week playing 3 games in 5 days against Baylor, ND, and Boyd," CCS head coach Jimmy Weekley said. "Really proud of how hard our guys played this week and especially tonight on heavy legs. Give credit to Boyd and the resiliency they showed to come back. Now we must try to get our legs back for our match on Tuesday."