Baylor, after conquering Pope John Paul II 2-0 Thursday, is headed for a Saturday match at Finley Stadium that could give the Lady Red Raiders their fourth straight Division II soccer title.
And Chattanooga Christian, defeating University School Jackson 5-0, will tangle with Franklin Road Academy for the third straight year. That Class A/AA championship game will be at noon Saturday at Finley Stadium. Baylor plays Father Ryan at 2:30.
Baylor 2 Pope John II 0
Lindsay Miller scored for Baylor off a Lauren Good assist for an early lead. Neither team could get it in the net in the game played at GPS until Lauren Geismar connected on a direct kick from just inside the 18. That came with 1:17 left and put it away for Baylor.
The Pope John Paul II keeper had five saves, while Baylor's Tracey Schenck had two saves.
Father Ryan got into the championship by putting away Hutchison 1-0 with a late score.
CCS 5 USJ 0
In the an A/AA semifinal game senior Heather Trimiew scored in the 8th and 11th minute for CCS. The second goal came off an assist from Charity Blair as the ball bounced around in front of the USJ goal after the Lady Bruins' keeper stopped a shot.
"Scoring that first goal in the first ten minutes is crucial," CCS coach Cal Sneller said. "You've gotta get the first one. It really calms them down."
The Lady Chargers scored a third goal when Emily Waters connected on an assist from Brittany Lee in the 18th minute. CCS went into half time with a 3-0 lead.
They scored two more times in the second half when Krista Blair, assisted by Trimiew, connected for the fourth goal in the 50th minute and Liz McDonald scored on an assist from Charity Blair in the 69th minute.
The Lady Chargers have much of their experience in the backfield playing defense. Three of their four seniors are defenders.
"I have a lot of confidence in them(my defense)," Coach Sneller said. "They have been playing together for a while."
CCS held USJ to only two shots while the Lady Chargers had 33 shots on goal. USJ keeper Keely McMahon, a freshman exchange student, made 18 saves.
The Lady Bruins are a young team with only five seniors and no juniors. USJ lost last year to CCS in the quarterfinals.
"That is a really good team to be able to have so many shots against," Coach Sneller said. "They did a good job possesing the ball. (Jessica) Metcalf made us stay really active on her."
The Chargers will face Franklin Road Academy Saturday in the state finals. They have seen FRA in the last two state tournaments. In 2002 CCS lost the championship in a shootout and in 2003 they lost by one point in the quarterfinals.
The group of seniors has been within striking distance of the championship ring every year and will have their last shot at it Saturday.
"They are very focused on Saturday but haven't taken any game for granted along the way," Coach Sneller said. "They are such great motivators. It makes my job so easy. They know what it is like to be here."
Both FRA and CCS are familiar with the pressure of Saturday's game and will go into it with great passion.
FRA will also be coming off a 5-0 win after defeating CAK Thursday evening. Ashley Price scored four goals for the Lady Panthers and Marissa Yennie tallied one.