MURFREESBORO, Tenn. -- Undefeated. Undaunted. Unprecedented in the history of McCallie soccer.
That’s what the Blue Tornado accomplished Thursday night at the Richard Siegel Soccer Complex in beating Christian Brothers 3-2 in the Division II Class AA soccer final.
Sparked by early goals from Kenneth Chime, Brandon Mathurin and Elliott Arnold on a sensational Bend-It-Like-Beckham free kick, McCallie roared in front 3-0 less than 20 minutes into the match, then hung on in the final half as goalie Ryan Larrabee had at least three huge saves.
When time expired, coach Chris Cushenbery gleefully endured a Gatorade ice bath from his players to cap off a 15-0-1 season and the Blue Tornado’s first state soccer championship since 2019.
“This is such a great group,” said Cushenbery afterward.
“They worked so hard all year, they had great chemistry, great senior leadership and they really loved each other. To go undefeated with the schedule we played is really unbelievable.”
Junior Elliott Arnold, who was named MVP of the state title game, agreed with his coach about senior leadership.
“Dylan (Capazario) and Brandon (Mathurin) were awesome leaders all year,” said Elliott, who was also the field goal kicker on McCallie’s state championship football team. “They kept us focused on what was important, being ready for the playoffs. We had a tough loss in the quarterfinals last year and in the semifinals the year before. We wanted to make sure we won it all this year and that’s just what we did.”
(Contact Mark Wiedmer at mwiedmer@mccallie.org)