CCS, Baylor Advance To State Championship

The Chattanooga Christian School and Baylor soccer teams joined Signal Mountain in earning state semifinal wins on Thursday in Murfreesboro.  CCS beat Evangelical Christian School 3-0 in Division II Class A and Baylor rallied to beat Father Ryan 2-1 in overtime in the Division II-AA game. 

CCS 3 ECS 0 From the first minute of the Division II-A state semifinal match between Chattanooga Christian and Evangelical Christian SChool, the Lady Chargers flexed their offensive muscles.  The Lady Chargers scored two first half goals and one in the second to earn a 3-0 win giving them a shot at the state title on Friday.   

CCS sophomore Laura Beth Turner scored just 33 seconds into the match giving the Lady Chargers a 1-0 lead.  Oliva Hoffman scored the second goal in the 14th minute. The 2-0 lead held through the first half.. 

Kate Dirkse gave CCS a 3-0 lead on an assist from Addie Henry. The Lady Chargers advance to the Division II Class A championship game which will be played at 4 p.m. on Friday, less then 24 hours after the semifinal win. St. George beat CPA 2-1 in their semifinal. 

"They were a very good team," CCS head coach Cal Sneller said after the game. "They had a great attack.  Finishing that one in the first minute was huge.  We created some great opportunities on offense.  We were very solid in the back, getting a shutout against such a good team was great."  

CCS keeper Lucy Sandhoff had six saves in the goal. ECS had 12 shots, eight of those in the first half.  

BAYLOR 2 FATHER RYAN 1 The Baylor Red Raiders scored in the 21st minute and Father Ryan tied the game three minutes later.   Both teams battled to the end of regulation but neither team would score. 

Six minutes into the first overtime, Mya McGee turned on a ball after Maddie Reap put her corner kick into the box.  McGee's shot hit the net to give Baylor a 2-1 lead.  They held on in the final minutes for the win. 

Baylor head coach Curtis Blair said he was glad to see his team settle in during the second half and overtime. 

"The first half it sort of went back and forth," Blair said. "I think the second half we settled in and started to play."

Blair said they had been talking about shooting consistently this week. 

"We told them all week that we need to put it on frame,"  he said. "That's what Mya did, just turned and hit it." 

Baylor had six shots on goal and Father Ryan had two.   Baylor keeper Peyton Randolph had one save.  

BRIARCREST 2 GPS 0 Briarcrest scored a goal in each half to beat the Bruisers 2-0.   Both teams had five shots on goal. GPS keeper Avery Campbell had three saves. Briarcrest's goals were scored by Peyton Moore in the 18th minute and Sarina Bienbenow in the 49th minute. GPS finished their season with a 11-6-2 record.