SOCCER REGION TOURNAMENT SCHEDULEToday (Times EDT)Region 3-A/AAArts & Sciences at McMinn Central, 1:30Boyd-Buchanan vs. East Hamilton at Redoubt, 7Region 4-A/AAChattanooga Christian at Livingston Academy, 6DeKalb County at Notre Dame, 6:30Region 3-AAAWarren County at Soddy-Daisy, 7Cleveland at Cookeville, 8
Boyd-Buchanan senior soccer co-captain Ashton Miller has a lot of friends. Two of them stand out to her - teammate and fellow captain Elizabeth Ault and East Hamilton senior defender Jennifer Fletcher.
After tonight, only one of the friends still will be playing. Miller hopes it's Ault.
Boyd-Buchanan (11-4-2) plays tonight at 7 at Redoubt in a Region 3-A/AA semifinal against the eighth-ranked Lady Hurricanes (14-3-2), with a shot in the championship game and subsequent trip to the sectional round on the line.
A loss tonight will end the season for Miller and her mates or her best friend "in the whole world."
"I'm going to go into the game knowing that either I'm going to end her season or she's going to end mine," Miller said of the matchup against Fletcher. "I don't know anything other than to try my hardest and give my all, because it's possibly going to be my last game."
Miller and Ault said that what the Lady Bucs desired for the season and the external expectations for their team were vastly different.
"I think we did a lot better than what most expected of us," Ault said.
Added Miller: "The best part of this year is that we've been able to grow close as a team, and it's been easy to work together. We realize at this point that it's a win-or-go home game."
The captains hooked up for what proved to be the winning goal in a 1-0 defeat of Grace Academy in the District 5 semifinals, with Ault scoring her 10th goal of the year. They lost by the same score to McMinn Central in the district final.
"I think it's important that we learn from the loss and work hard to improve on that for the next game," Ault said. "We just need to make sure we don't make the same mistakes again."
McMinn Central (8-5-2) hosts Arts & Sciences (11-3-1) at 1:30 today. The Region 4-A/AA semifinals have third-ranked Notre Dame (6-7-3) hosting DeKalb County (4-6-2) while sixth-ranked Chattanooga Christian (10-8-2) travels to 11th-ranked Livingston Academy (11-4-2), which features 2009 Tennessee Gatorade Player of the Year Kat Nigro, who has committed to play for North Carolina.
In Region 3-AAA, third-ranked Soddy-Daisy (18-0-2) hosts Warren County (12-5-1) while Cleveland (12-7-2) visits ninth-ranked Cookeville (13-3), which lost 3-0 to the Lady Raiders in the regular season.