State Soccer: Greeneville Defeats CCS, 4-1, in Final

MUREESBORO - It took 15 years for Greeneville head coach John Eiskamp to lead the Lady Devils to a state soccer championship, but he was all smiles early Saturday afternoon as Greeneville defeated Chattanooga Christian, 4-1, for the TSSAA A-AA title here at the Richard Siegel Soccer Complex.

Junior Jessica Sallah scored all four goals for the victors, while Olivia Hoffman scored the CCS goal.

“Our players worked hard all season, had the desire to win the title and the key was our senior leadership,” said coach Eiskamp whose team finished the season at 25-2 with 22 shutout wins, losing only to CCS (1-0, Sept.19) and Tates Creek (Ky.), 2-1, Sept. 4.

Known for its accuracy on corner kicks, Greeneville’s first goal was a header by Sallah off the corner kick from Katelynn Hadjopoules in the 13th minute, while the two teamed again for the second goal in the 18th minute.

“Greeneville is hungry (to score) once they are in the box and your players have to get a body on them and gain position to clear the ball,” said CCS head coach Cal Sneller.

The Chargers (17-6-3) cut the lead in half as Kyra Duble fed a ball to Hoffman who found the back of the net to trail 2-1 in the 33rd minute.

But Greeneville quickly regained the momentum on Sallah’s third goal 90 seconds before intermission.

“That third goal just before halftime hurt as it would have been nice to only be down a goal at half,” said Sneller who led the Chargers to the 1997 state crown.

Sallah closed out the scoring on an assist from Elissa McIntosh five minutes into the second half.

In the 74th minute, Hoffman was one-on-one with the Lady Devils’ goalie senior Kelsey Kershaw as Kershaw stopped the shot from 15 yards out.

“I think we played our hearts out, fought well and did the school proud,” Sneller stated.

Last Public School Champ: The only other public school to win the A-AA girls state soccer title was Ridgeway which won four in a row, 1998-2001 ... CCS won the first A-AA title in 1997. 

Appropriate Music: After the medals and trophies were handed out, the rock and roll hit song “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough” by Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell was played over the loudspeaker system ...  The Greeneville Lady Devils did exactly that as there wasn't a mountain high enough, a valley deep enough nor a river wide enough to keep the upper East Tennessee school from claiming the state championship ... and for CCS, nothing stopped the Lady Chargers from a region and sectional title and a state runner-up finish.

Impressive Stat: Against 2A teams, Greeneville outscored its opponents, 169-3 … CCS scored two of those goals. The other goal was an own goal in a 5-1 win against Grace Christian in the sectional match last Saturday.

Entering the finals, CCS had won five straight matches, including four by shutout, and outscored the opponents, 8-1.  Greeneville entered the finals on an 11-match win streak, outscoring the opponents, 95-3.

Paint Your Nails: To show team unity, the Greeneville players - save one - painted their fingernails green. The one lone devil who abstained was junior Jessica Sallah who recently had a manicure and decided not to paint her nails green.  But her teammates couldn’t be too upset as she scored all four goals in the final.

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