Purple Wave end Baylor's season, 2-1

May 21, 2015 at 1:00 a.m. | Updated May 20, 2015 at 11:42 p.m.

by Gene Henley

Baylor forward Kyle Jonston, right, heads the ball away from Christian Brothers' Jake Barrett during their Division II-AA state soccer semifinal match Wednesday, May 20, 2015, at the TSSAA Spring Fling in Murfreesboro, Tenn.
Baylor forward Kyle Jonston, right, heads the ball away from Christian Brothers' Jake Barrett during their Division II-AA state soccer semifinal match Wednesday, May 20, 2015, at the TSSAA Spring Fling in Murfreesboro, Tenn.

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MURFREESBORO, Tenn. -- The deeper into the playoffs a team gets, the more any little mistake or missed opportunity gets magnified. A season can either continue or end on one play.

Wednesday in the Division II-AA state boys' soccer semifinals, Baylor had the chances. The Red Raiders just couldn't convert them. Their opponent, Christian Brothers, converted just enough.

The Red Raiders' 2015 season ended in a 2-1 loss to the Memphis team at the Richard Siegel Soccer Complex.

It came to an end in a rough fashion, full of yellow cards and goalkeeper Colin Brewer taking a shot to the face that will require stitches.

"On this stage, when you do create and don't finish, it's disappointing," Baylor coach Curtis Blair said. "We had a couple of opportunities that we didn't finish. In the first half, I felt we could have scored a couple of goals."

Instead, it was the Purple Wave who held a 1-0 lead after 40 minutes on a goal by Chris DiPietro in the 13th minute. Cole Cannon, who assisted on that goal, scored six minutes into the second half, but the Red Raiders trimmed the lead in half when leading scorer Kyle Johnston scored his 19th goal of the season in the 54th minute.

From then on, Blair pushed numbers forward in hopes of gaining the equalizer, but shots went high, wide and awry.

The Baylor senior class of Brewer, Johnston Lucas Baker and Austin Maize capped a four-year run in which they advanced to four state tournaments, with a state title in 2012, a runner-up finish last season and two other semifinal showings.

"As a senior, I'll dwell on the loss for a bit, because I'm very vested in the program," Maize said. "Hopefully those coming back won't.

"I'll look back on these years fondly; some of my best friendships made were through soccer. I've build a good relationship with Coach Blair, and I've had nothing but a good experience here."

Contact Gene Henley at ghenley@timesfreepress.com. Follow him at twitter.com/genehenleytfp.

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