Stiff competition across region keeps 5-AAA girls' soccer and other district tournaments wide open

Oct 10, 2013--
Soccer coach Nathan Brown talks to girls Thursday during practice at Walker Valley High School.
Oct 10, 2013-- Soccer coach Nathan Brown talks to girls Thursday during practice at Walker Valley High School.
photo Oct 10, 2013-- Soccer coach Nathan Brown talks to girls Thursday during practice at Walker Valley High School.

Top Seeds

Region 5-AAA 1. Soddy-Daisy; 2. Walker Valley Region 7-A/AA 1. Chattanooga Christian; 2. Signal Mountain Region 6-A/AA 1. East Ridge; 2. Hixson Region 5-A/AA 1. Boyd-Buchanan; 2. Arts & Sciences

There may be only a smidgen of fear, but it's safe to say there is beaucoup respect as competitors prepare for the District 5-AAA girls' soccer tournament.

"Soccer is such a low-scoring game. You can't give any team a goal or two from mistakes," Soddy-Daisy coach Moises Drumond said this week. "You have to keep it tight in the back because a mistake can get you burned."

If possible, the 5-AAA competition has become stiffer.

"On any given day at least four of our teams can win, and there were any number of games that could've gone either way," observed Walker Valley coach Nathan Brown, whose team is the defending champion. "In other years it's been one or maybe two (that could win), and now you have four, and of course there's Bradley (Central) which upset McMinn that one time. You just never know."

It's the same throughout the area from 5-AAA and Division II-AA (Baylor, GPS) through Districts 5, 6, and 7 in the A/AA ranks.

District 6-A/AA was the first to open the postseason with Red Bank hosting Howard on Friday. Play in 5-AAA and 5-A/AA tournaments begins today, and 7-A/AA opens on Monday.

Baylor and GPS will begin their postseason a week from today.

Almost every coach would agree this is the most unforgiving time of the season. Until a team reaches the district championship match, there is no guarantee of moving on.

The "Women of Troy," as the Soddy-Daisy community has begun to refer to its girls' teams, know only too well. The 2015 tournament's No. 1 seed, they were knocked from competition in the semifinals by fourth-seeded Walker Valley.

Soddy-Daisy is again the tournament's No. 1 seed after surviving a six-match gauntlet to finish district play unbeaten.

"It's tighter even than it looks on paper," Drumond said, pointing to his team's one-goal regular-season wins over Walker Valley and McMinn County. "East Hamilton? That (match) was 1-0 with five minutes to go. Our keeper came up with a big save, and then we scored a couple late. East Hamilton had some injuries during the year, but when they're healthy they can compete with anybody, and Bradley is much improved."

He sees similarities to last season prior to the tournament when his top-seeded team was bumped by Walker Valley, which went on to win district and region titles before falling a goal shy of a sectional victory and a trip to the state tournament.

Drumond's postseason point of emphasis was succinct: "It's definitely been a focus that every aspect of our game is where we need it to be. I don't think we were looking past that first match. They just beat us on that day."

Region semifinals are set for Oct. 18 with championship matches on Oct. 20.

Contact Ward Gossett at wgossett@timesfreepress.com or 423-886-4765. Follow him at Twitter.com/wardgossett.

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