Soccer Team Wins East Region Title

What a difference a month can make. Just over 30 days ago, on April 9th, McCallie soccer fell at home to Chattanooga Christian, 3-1, as the Chargers handed the defending state champions and nationally-ranked Blue Tornado their first loss since 2023. Fast forward to Saturday, May 10th, and the roles were reversed. 

This time, it was McCallie going on the road and getting a massive 3-1 win, handing CCS what was its first loss of its 2025 season in the East Region tournament final, and clinching the number 1 seed in the East Region heading into elimination playoff games. 

Despite the chilly and rainy conditions, a large crowd still came out, consisting of close to 100 rowdy McCallie and GPS students who braved the elements to support their classmates on the road. 

Through the first 30 minutes of play, the two sides remained scoreless. While McCallie dominated possession, they couldn’t put away a shot -- until the 32nd minute, when junior Alejandro Dominguez headed a shot in off the post, putting McCallie up 1-0. That scoreline would hold, with McCallie taking the 1-0 lead into the break. 

Come the second half, with the rain now stopped, it only took McCallie 11 minutes to find the back of the net again and double the lead, with senior Elliott Arnold powering one past the CCS keeper and putting McCallie up 2-0 in the 51st minute. 

Despite various attacks and a few shots from both sides over the next several minutes, the McCallie lead remained at 2-0, as CCS’s attempts to cut into the lead were only in vain. 

Then, in the 69th minute, McCallie would put the last nail in the CCS coffin, pushing the lead out to a very commanding 3-0. Senior Ryan Rodriguez did the deed, striking the back of the net off a strong McCallie attack, sending various CCS fans for the exits.

Though CCS did get one back very late with less than 5 minutes to go in the 75th minute off a penalty kick, it proved nowhere near enough, with McCallie going on to win convincingly, getting sweet revenge on the cross-town foe Chargers, avenging their only loss of the year. 

After the game, a happy but damp head soccer coach Chris Cushenbery said “This definitely felt really good. I’m happy for the guys and happy they got a chance to see them again after what happened last month. I feel like we did a much better job controlling the ball and really the game as a whole this time, and really just did an overall better job of countering them, limiting their attacks, and stopping them from getting shots over top of us like they did last time.”

McCallie will be back in action at home this coming weekend, where they will host Memphis University School Saturday, May 17 at noon in a quarterfinal elimination playoff matchup.