UTC-USF opener on Sept. 1 set for 7

The game time has been set at 7 p.m. for the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga's football season opener Sept. 1 against South Florida in Tampa. This will be the first meeting between the Mocs and the Bulls from the Big East Conference. It will be shown live on ESPN3. UTC's first home game is Thursday, Sept. 13, at 7 p.m. against Glenville State. Season tickets are available through GoMocs.com or by calling 266-6627.

Golf

• COLUMBUS, Ga. -- Former Baylor School golfer Keith Mitchell is in second place heading into the final round of the Southeastern Amateur at Columbus Country Club. He shot a 2-under-par 69 for the third straight round Friday. He trails Tommy Mou of Florida by two. Chad Wilson of Calhoun, Ga., is in third place and five off the lead.

Soccer

• An old friendship helped Tennessee Temple University women's soccer coach Emmanuel Awotula sign a transfer Friday from NCAA Division II member Delta State University. Samantha Wangerien is a 5-foot-5 midfielder whose family just moved from the Memphis area to Ringgold, and she wanted to stay close to them but didn't want to give up college soccer. "I thought about going to Dalton State College or UTC and just being a student, but soccer is my favorite thing," said Wangerien, who played in high school in Olive Branch, Miss., but lived in Albany, Ga., until 2005. Among her teammates and close friends in Albany was current Temple player Sachi Daughtey, who saw her again at a Delta State camp in 2011. "She's really a strong player and she helps me be a better player," Daughtey said Friday. "I feel with her ability and personality she can help us come together more as a team, and she can be like a secret weapon for us." Wangerien played in nine games last year, starting one.

• The East Ridge Express 97 under-15 girls' soccer team reached the semifinals of the Division II Region III Southeastern President's Cup last week in Greensboro, N.C. The team coached by Dean Wilson lost 2-1 to a hometown team, Greensboro United U15 Navy, which then won the 12-state region championship with a 1-0 defeat of a Texas team East Ridge Express 97 tied in flight play. The Express girls had earned their second state championship with the Division II title June 1-3 in Murfreesboro. At Greensboro, Alyssa Newton scored in each game as they beat the Alabama River City Raptors 2-0 (Maddie Robbins also scoring) and the Florida Wellington Wave 1-0. They tied the North Dallas Texans 0-0 and were the Flight B winners. Of the Express's 15 wins and five ties this season, 15 were shutouts. They won the 2011 Athens (Ga.) United Finale and the 2012 Bash in the Boro and were finalists also in the fall Atlanta Challenger Cup and the East Ridge Adidas Spring Fling. Other members of the team included Brittany Allison, Courtney Boyd, Bailey Burke, Rachel Carter, Liz Ciabattone, Haylee Conerly, Makala Elsea, Taylor Green, Biship Hill, Lydia Lee, Jessica Lyons, Mallory Menely, Gaby Mullin and Peyton Rauth. Kayla Auger, Hannah Dearing and Liz Mouw were guest players for the regional.

Basketball

• Recent Gordon Lee High School graduates Andrew Johnson and Cody Cochran will be staying together as basketball players for Georgia Northwestern Technical College and coach David Stephenson. The 6-foot-5, 220-pound Cochran and 6-4, 170-pound Johnson helped the Trojans turn around a 10-20 season from their junior year to a 20-10 senior season that reached the second round of the Georgia Class A playoffs. They will join returning Bobcats posts Alex Miller and Bud Todd, both 6-5, plus previously signed freshmen Jordan Robinson (6-6) from Mountain View Christian in Bryant, Ala., and Terrell Rose (6-9) from Chattanooga and Global Prep in the GNTC frontcourt. They also will be uniting with Hunter Ivester from fierce region rival Trion.

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