The penalty kick awarded to the GPS soccer team in the 43rd minute of Tuesday night’s match against Chattanooga Christian might have been the deciding play of the game, but not for the host Bruisers.

A red-card ejection without a substitution would normally have accompanied the handball-in-the-box call against CCS, but because officials couldn’t determine which player the offending hand belonged to, the PK was the only penalty assessed.

And after Josie Rix made the kick for the Bruisers, a full Lady Chargers squad outplayed GPS during the rest of its 2-1 comeback victory.

“I thought we got down just a little (after the PK), but we never quit,” CCS coach Cal Sneller said. “They played relaxed and never got too frantic.”

The Lady Chargers (6-0-1) began creating chances soon after falling behind, and their work finally paid off with 13:27 on the clock when Logan Mays scored the equalizer off a restart from just outside the box.

In the 72nd minute, a CCS counter resulted in space on the left side of the field for Rebecca Whiteside, who got the ball to Mays up top. The senior forward beat the lone defender, and although GPS keeper Simone Busby dove to block the ball, it rolled away and over the line for the deciding goal.

“It was a great counterattack,” Sneller said. “Rebecca is someone who wants to shoot, but she saw Logan and made a great pass. Their keeper made a great dive on it, but it squeaked in there.”

The Bruisers (4-2-1) had several dangerous opportunities as they went on the attack throughout nearly five minutes of stoppage time, but CCS keeper Leah Wilson kept them out of the net.

“We haven’t played a team yet that has their kind of scoring punch,” Sneller said. “They’ve scored a lot of goals and haven’t been scored on much, so we knew coming in that they were going to come at us. I was pleasantly surprised with the way we handled it.”

CCS held a 10-9 shot advantage and Busby and Wilson each finished with three saves in the matchup between the two state-ranked teams. The Chargers are currently No. 3 in Class A/AA, while GPS is ranked eighth in Division II.

“We had a lot go against us tonight,” Bruisers coach Dave Barrueta said. “Part of that was our effort at times. But CCS is off to a good start, and I’m happy for them. As long as we keep fighting, our girls will be fine.”

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