The Boyd-Buchanan soccer team created a number of opportunities Friday in its District 5-A/AA championship match against Loudon, but it was the last one that counted.
David Ingram got the final touch on a John Beasley throw-in in the 103rd minute and put the ball in the net for a 1-0 victory. That gave the Buccaneers their second consecutive district tournament title and fourth in five seasons.
The third-ranked Bucs (15-0-1) on Tuesday will host 6-A/AA runner-up Red Bank, which fell to East Ridge in another 1-0 overtime game. The Redskins (8-2) will visit the Pioneers at Camp Jordan.
The regular-season match against Loudon was a 3-0 victory for the Bucs, but coach Dustin Walker said that score wasn't indicative of how it was played. The Redskins, led by Logan McDonald and Jesus Medina, put a lot of pressure on the Bucs' defensive unit.
"We had to come out after the first half and adjust to their pressure," Walker said. "We regrouped at halftime, and I'm proud of the guys. They came out with energy, passion and the intensity to match, and then continued going.
"It was a great game."
On the eventual winning goal, Beasley's throw-in initially went in the box to Will Boynton, who flicked the ball to Ingram, who put it away.
"We'd been pressuring them hard all night, but shots hadn't been falling," Boynton said. "We had some volleys off the post; we were just unlucky that last little bit. But John played a good ball and I made a run to the back post and played it back across. It was going to happen eventually; we'd been pressuring them hard all night."
Boyd-Buchanan outshot the Redskins, but dangerous opportunities had been held to a minimum. Ingram had a shot from close range in the first overtime that Loudon goalkeeper Marco Zavala ranged far to his left to knock out of play. The Bucs also had a shot glance off the side post and another off the crossbar.
"It's frustrating, but it doesn't affect our team," Ingram said. "We've worked too hard to let that get us down. We know what we're capable of: If we put our heart into it, it's going to fall eventually, and it did tonight."
Contact Gene Henley at ghenley@timesfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @genehenleytfp.