Soccer Caps Another Banner Year for McCallie Athletics

 

In the end, there was little drama and no doubt.

 

There were no blood pressure-spiking penalty kicks. There were no last-second saves by a fingertip.

 

There was only this result beamed in bright lights on Murfreesboro’s Siegel Soccer Complex stadium scoreboard at the end of Thursday night’s TSSAA Division II Class AA state soccer title game: McCallie 3, Briarcrest Christian 1.

 

It marked the second title in three years, the fourth in 10 and the fifth overall state soccer championship for the Blue Tornado program, which was ranked No. 1 in the country in one poll two years ago. Of equal import, it delivered the fifth state championship of the 2025-26 school year for McCallie athletics, the soccer title joining earlier state crowns won by cross country, lacrosse, track and field, and traditional wrestling.

 

“I’m so proud of this group,” said Blue Tornado soccer coach Chris Cushenbery. “We lost seven starters from last year‘s team and it would’ve been easy to let the standard fall, but these guys wouldn’t let it. Seniors Darius (Otchere) and Alejandro (Dominguez) were amazing captains and led well, and the new guys stepped up every game.”

 

Unlike the Wednesday semifinal win over Christian Brothers that wasn’t decided until McCallie won the penalty-kick shootout 5-3, the Blues were never tied nor behind against the Saints. Eventual game MVP Finn Arnold, the thunder-footed sophomore, put McCallie on the board first some 19 minutes into the game. Shortly after that, Dominguez scored to extend the lead to 2-0, which was also the score at the half.

 

When Briarcrest briefly pulled within 2-1 some 72 minutes into the contest, it took Arnold just three minutes to score his second goal of the night and cement another state title for the program.

 

Afterward, Arnold told the Chattanooga Times Free Press: “We’ve worked so hard for this since day one, since last year when we lost in the final. Credit to the team today. We played great and we deserved it. We’ll be back next year.”

 

With a final record of 14-1-3, it wasn’t like this was an upset. Still, Briarcrest had shut out a good Knoxville Catholic team 2-0 in the semis and had knocked off McCallie archrival Baylor in the quarterfinals. And the specter of last year’s penalty-kick loss to Montgomery Bell Academy in the state title game was a motivating force to avoid a similar scenario this time around.

 

“We started six freshmen and sophomores this year and they played like veterans,” said Cush. “Our bench provided us a spark in every match, and they did so much great work in practice to prepare our starters for each match. Every player, every coach, our managers…they all contributed in meaningful ways, and the boys rose to the challenge and did things the McCallie way.” 

 

When it comes to athletics, the McCallie Way is tough to ignore. This was the third straight title game appearance for soccer. Tennis has reached the championship match for seven straight years. Cross country has finished first in the state six times in the last seven years, its lone non-winning year ending in a tie that it lost on a tiebreaker. Lacrosse has reached five straight title games and won it all twice, including this season. Football hasn’t finished lower than the semifinal round of the playoffs since 2016, a staggering run of success that includes five state championships in the last seven seasons. Swimming has won three of the past four state titles. Both track and traditional wrestling have captured two of the last three state championships.

 

Said executive athletic director Kenny Sholl as he was driving home from the soccer match in a driving rainstorm Thursday night, “These successes happen almost every year. It’s our goal every year: to be the best team we can be in whatever sport we’re playing, to be the best version of ourselves and to create a supportive, family atmosphere for our student-athletes.”

 

“We’re blessed to have so many great coaches who are great teachers and role models and these kids want to do this, want to work hard and do it for each other. When Finn won the MVP award tonight, you could tell every player on the team was happy for him, there was no jealousy or ‘Why wasn’t that me?’ These kids never seem to care who gets the credit as long as we win. And it sure is fun to win.”

 

He then pointed to the coach every McCallie coach points to as the secret reason for all these championships: strength and conditioning coach Richard Henderson.

 

“You saw it again this week,” said Sholl. “Our guys don’t get tired. They don’t cramp. Richard does a phenomenal job of having these kids peak at the right time to compete for championships.”

 

That work never sleeps. It will begin anew this summer in Henderson’s weight room for every athlete who wants to improve physically and mentally for the upcoming school year. Maybe it will ultimately add five more state titles a year from now, maybe it will even yield the stunning nine state titles from 2023-24. Whatever the trophy haul, it will surely help each McCallie athletic team be the best it can be.

 

But until then, as he drove through the rain, Sholl was understandably excited about this year’s hardware haul.

 

Almost giddy after capturing lacrosse, track and field, and soccer state titles over a span of six days in May, Sholl exclaimed, “It’s been a pretty good spring.”