- Athletics
Until recently, whenever Baylor and McCallie met on the soccer pitch, the away team seemed to have the upper hand. That trend seems to have evaporated in recent weeks, with the Blue Tornado sweeping the Red Raiders in their last two meetings on McCallie’s campus, including the thrilling 3-2 playoff win May 6 in the Region semifinals. That victory guarantees the defending TSSAA Division II-AA state champs a spot in the state playoffs as either the East Region winner or runner-up, depending on who wins the May 10 regional championship at Chattanooga Christian. The Chargers upset the Blue Tornado earlier in the season.
Though McCallie beat Baylor 3-0 a couple of weeks ago on campus, this game was much tighter from the beginning, with the visitors taking a 1-0 lead less than 15 minutes into the opening half.
The Blue Tornado didn’t tie things at 1-all until seven seconds left in the half, when sophomore Brooks Hilger was able to head the ball over the top of the keeper after a lob in from freshman Finn Arnold.
Despite controlling what felt like most of the second half, McCallie again found itself trailing, this time 2-1, after a Baylor attack got away from them, the Red Raiders pulling back ahead in the 61st minute.
However, it took less than three minutes for McCallie to get its second equalizer, senior Ellliott Arnold burying a free kick from deep to level the scoreline at 2-2 in the 63rd minute. The blue-clad crowd erupted. That madness would then only go up a level, when, in the 70th minute, the Blue Tornado was awarded a key penalty kick, and a chance to take their first lead of the evening inside of 10 minutes left to play.
Hilger, who had already found the back of the net once, was called up to do the deed, and he buried it, putting McCallie ahead 3-2 with about nine minutes left in regulation.
From that point on, despite a few close calls against Baylor’s offense, McCallie was able to hold on.
After the game, a relieved but happy head coach Chris Cushenbery said “I thought we played kind of soft there to start in the first half, but I was really happy about what we did later in the game. That goal right before the half certainly helped us, but in the second half, I felt like they were able to calm down and take control.”
Speaking at warpspeed, Cushenbery also remarked “I think not being the number one seed in the region tournament has its advantages too. It might be a good thing in a way, as it allows us to get to experience more hard, highly-contested matchups like these, which will help us later down the road when we are playing elimination games in the playoffs.”
Kickoff for the East Region final is set for 2pm, May 10th, at CCS.
- soccer