Four area soccer teams in state finals
MURFREESBORO, Tenn. — Four soccer teams. Four routs.
Four goals (well 11, actually).
Boyd Buchanan, McCallie and Notre Dame advanced to their respective state finals at the TSSAA Spring Fling with resounding wins Wednesday at the Richard Siegel Soccer Complex. Two of those Chattanooga teams — Boyd Buchanan and Notre Dame — will face off in the Division II-A final at 5 p.m. Eastern on Thursday, while McCallie will face Christian Brothers in the Division II-AA final at 7:30.
In addition, Arts & Sciences continued its quest for a state title with a 4-1 win over Memphis Business in a Class A semifinal delayed due to inclement weather. William Cooley, Eliot Nichols, Will Parris and Justin Smith scored for the Patriots, who will face Gatlinburg-Pittman in the state championship match at 5 p.m. Eastern on Friday.
In Class AAA, Howard’s best run ever came to a close in the semifinals with a 2-0 loss to Ravenwood.
In DII-A, a win for Boyd Buchanan on Thursday would give the Buccaneers their first state championship since 2010, but they’ve been close: This season marks their fourth consecutive trip to Murfreesboro and the third consecutive run to the title match, where they’ve fallen 3-0 each of the past two seasons. Wednesday was another step in the right direction with a 2-0 win over 2023 champion Lausanne, with both goals coming off the foot of Fiston Mungisha.
“We’ve lost two state championships in a row, and that’s been tough, and that’s something that motivates a lot of our training,” Boyd Buchanan coach Dustin Walker said, before adding of his Bucs: “Their level of confidence is high, but it’s not like it’s cocky. They know they have to earn it, but we’re also confident in
what we’re going to do.
“We’re just so thankful the Lord’s given us another day with this team, with this family. We realize it’s a gift, and we want to do what we can with the gift the Lord’s given us.”
Boyd Buchanan has a pair of 2-0 wins over Notre Dame this spring, and those are also the two most recent losses for the Fighting Irish, whose 0-4 start this season included losses to Baylor, Bearden and McCallie. Notre Dame won the 1997 Class A/AA state title but hadn’t been back to the state tournament since 2016, and the Irish ensured it wouldn’t be a short trip with a 3-1 overtime win against University School of Nashville
The winners got goals from Luke Rosellini, Joshua Bonk and Lucas Johnson, with the last two coming in the 10-minute extra periods.
“This has been fun, and we have a younger team,” Notre Dame coach Jim Schermerhorn said. “We had a tough schedule early, but I think it’s paying off, because in the playoffs we’ve just played a lot better. Today wasn’t our best game, but we got the result, and we’ve just been finding ways to win.”
McCallie is also hungry to end its drought, having not won a state title since 2019. The Blue Tornado lost in the semifinals in 2021 and 2022, then didn’t make it even that far a year ago, and they didn’t waste any time in building a 2-0 lead against Montgomery Bell Academy — which had not allowed a goal in nine consecutive matches — before holding on for the 2-1 win.
Brandon Mathurin and Brooks Hilger had the team’s goals, with 6-foot-8 senior and University of West Georgia basketball signee Kenneth Chim and Dylan Capazario credited with assists.
“That was a really gritty win,” McCallie coach Chris Cushenbery said. “Sometimes we’ve been dominant and pretty pretty, and we had a lot of guys who were kind of off today, so for guys to step up, be gritty and play hard, we needed that. We had a couple Saturdays where guys came in and we had crushing hard fitness sessions, and it was for moments like that.
“Guys are willing to put in the work and be ready to grind, and it was great to get that first win. Now you’re in the championship, and anything can happen.”