CLEVELAND, Tenn. - In soccer, any result other than a loss often is considered a good one. In the case of the Cleveland girls' soccer team, Saturday's 1-1 tie should be considered sensational.
The Lady Raiders battled to a tie against three-time defending Class A/AA state champion Christian Academy of Knoxville, despite being outshot 22-2.
The Lady Raiders have two forwards out with injuries, and five freshmen got considerable experience Saturday. Only seven of the 18 girls who played for Cleveland had been in varsity action.
"The younger players came in and made a big difference for us," Cleveland coach Andy Byrd said. "This is the youngest team I've had in my time here, but the freshmen really came up big today."
Cleveland (0-1-1) actually took the lead in the fourth minute when Kaitlyn Poulakis fed Megan Barker on a through pass. Barker finished the play with her left foot.
That margin held up - despite CAK attacking from all angles the rest of the game - until the 66th minute, when Paige Hoffman fired a free kick past Alison Simpson. Simpson made a diving save, only to have the ball squirt through her hands when she hit the ground.
"I thought I had it," she said. "I guess I landed wrong and the ball got by me."
Simpson survived the barrage and had 13 saves, including at least three from point-blank range. CAK junior Kiah Allen had a shot that Simpson bobbled and almost crossed the line, and later Laura Foster crossed a pass into Kayce Campbell. Campbell tried to one-touch it past Simpson, but the senior keeper got a hand on the ball and knocked it away.
"I felt like there were going to be a lot of shots taken at me, and it got the adrenaline going," Simpson said. "It felt pretty good to know we just tied a three-time defending state championship. We're young and have some players injured, but the younger players are only going to get better so the rest of this season should be exciting."
Said Byrd: "Sometimes this season will feel long, but at the end when we get everybody back, we should be ready to go."