Lady Hurricanes fall in state quarterfinals
MURFREESBORO — After allowing just one goal this postseason up until the Class AA state tournament, the East Hamilton girls’ soccer team’s inability to get going offensively ended its season in the final eight.
A strong tactical attack for Nolensville was on display as the Lady Knights scored twice in each half of their 4-0 quarterfinal victory Wednesday at the Richard Siegel Soccer Complex.
East Hamilton junior Darci Zeh made eight saves, but the Lady Hurricanes were outshot 14-0.
“Nolensville has a lot of threats offensively, and they really put forth some quality finishes tonight,” East Hamilton coach Carrie Hill said. “We still had energy at halftime being down 2-0, but they created more opportunities and we just couldn’t generate a lot of offense.”
Malia Drumeller played a lead pass ahead in the second half, but a diving keeper kept Tenley Yates from possibly scoring on the play. Getting down through the middle of the defense was a challenge for the Lady Hurricanes (12-9-2).
East Hamilton’s senior class of Jessica Dunavant, Amber Gicker, Bailey Kilpatrick and Stephanie Sedeno ended their time as Lady Hurricanes soccer players with a third straight trip to the state tournament while compiling an overall record of 44-34-5, which included a state semifinals run in 2017.
“We have nothing to hang our heads about,” Hill said. “We are proud of the season. We had to rely on a lot of different people, and everyone stepped up when they needed to. We have some pieces to build off for the years to come, but we are definitely going to miss our seniors.”
Elisa Dobson had both firsthalf goals for Nolensville (13-33), while Baylee Farr and Alaina Hornyak completed the scoring. The Lady Knights advanced to a semifinal today against South Gibson (15-4-1), which won 1-0 against Cumberland County (134-4) on Wednesday.
In the other AA semifinal, Greeneville (17-7) will take on Murfreesboro Central (17-2-3), Greeneville after an 11-2 win against Chester County (14-3-1) and Murfreesboro Central after a 2-0 win against Knoxville Central (13-7-2).
Contact Patrick MacCoon at pmaccoon@timesfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @PMacCoon.