MURFREESBORO, Tenn. - Luis Sanchez finished what Zavior Phillips started Tuesday night.
Sanchez scored off Phillips' cross with 4:39 left in overtime as Central Magnet's boys' soccer team eked out a 3-2 Region 4-A/AA semifinal win over Chattanooga Christian at Richard Siegel Soccer Park.
With the match tied at 2 and drifting toward the possibility of being decided by penalty kicks, Phillips - who already had scored twice - looked for an opening.
"At first," Phillips said, "I was trying to get an open shot, but they kept cutting me off, so I dribbled around to the goal line and crossed it in.
"I saw it go through the guy's legs and it crossed wide open to Luis in the back, and Luis is a great finisher and I knew he would put it in."
Sanchez got the ball past CCS goalkeeper Micaiah Allison and Central (15-2-1) ran out the clock, securing a spot in Thursday's regional final at home against Notre Dame.
"I passed it to Zav," Sanchez said, "and Zav has that body where he can body off the defenders, and he usually goes toward the goal, but he just opened up wide. I guess he heard me and crossed it, and when I saw the ball go through the defender's legs, I just thought, 'I cannot miss it.'"
CCS finished 10-5-2.
It took about 10 minutes for Phillips to open the scoring when he took an open lane to the net, deked the goalkeeper and put the ball in the back of the net.
A few minutes later, the Chargers' Drew Bolano fired home the equalizer from about 15 yards out on the left side. But Phillips scored again in the 22nd minute, outracing three CCS defenders to reel in a long pass and then scoring from in front of the net.
Eight minutes into the second half, the visitors' Will Patton caught up with a through pass, eluded the goalkeeper and tied the match at 2.
"It was very stressful," Phillips said. "We thought we had it when we had the lead, but then they put another one in, and time just kept passing and we weren't putting any in."
This was the fourth straight year the teams had met in the postseason. CCS won last year in the region final, and both teams went on to win in the sectional and advance to the state tournament.
The previous two seasons, the schools split a pair of region semifinals.