Soddy-Daisy's Ally Fien, (19), right, watches her head shot go past teammate Summer Lanter (14) and in for the score Tuesday against Cleveland.Soddy-Daisy soccer coach Moises Drumond knows that all good things eventually come to an end. To his delight, though, Tuesday night wasn't that time.
The Lady Trojans got a first-half goal from Ally Fien and made it hold, defeating Cleveland 1-0 despite a wild second half that was controlled by the visitors. That was Soddy-Daisy's 16th consecutive regular-season victory in District 5-AAA play. It hasn't lost to a 5-AAA opponent since the 2009 reclassification, defeating foes by a combined score of 49-4.
The Lady Trojans' toughest opponent during that stretch has been Cleveland, and Tuesday night was no different. Soddy-Daisy's defense was tested in the final 40 minutes, as the Lady Raiders had six shots on goal, compared to four for the hosts. They had one shot bounce off the crossbar and at one point had six straight corner kicks.
"I thought that in those last 10 minutes we survived," Drumond said. "It was very frantic, especially with those corners. Luckily we were getting to the corners first, but we need to do a better job of not turning them into more corners."
On the final corner kick, keeper Haley Myers punched the ball out, leading to a Hannah Wyatt breakaway. The 100-yard sprint downfield got the best of the senior, however, and she eventually pushed a shot attempt wide.
"Cleveland had pushed numbers forward trying to tie the game, and we just got an opportunity. Hannah just ran out of steam," Drumond said.
The Lady Trojans (9-2-2, 4-0) took the lead 17 minutes into the contest, when Fien was able to head in a Natalie Smith corner kick. Soddy-Daisy controlled possession for large portions of the first half and kept Cleveland from producing much of an attack.
Lady Raiders coach Andy Byrd was pleased with their overall play but unhappy with their ability to finish opportunities.
"We have to learn how to take advantage of the opportunities presented to us," Byrd said. "Right now, we're just a step away from beating some of the better teams. We have the potential to be good, and hopefully we'll be able to put something together going into the postseason."