Soddy-Daisy, McMinn County are District 5-AAA soccer finalists

Soccer tile
Soccer tile

The District 5-AAA soccer championship opponents have been set, but once again the semifinals didn't follow the pre-tournament seeds.

McMinn County, the No. 3 seed, upended second-seeded Walker Valley in Cleveland while Soddy-Daisy, which fell victim to the upset bug a year ago, advanced to the final with a hard-fought 2-1 victory over East Hamilton.

Thursday's winner will host and the loser will travel in next Tuesday's region semifinals.

"That match was the definition of postseason play," East Hamilton coach Carrie Hill said. "Both teams played very hard, and ultimately Soddy-Daisy has a knack for getting these wins by just finishing balls and executing on opportunities they create."

Her team, plagued by injuries throughout the season, was as close to being as healthy as the group she started with in the preseason.

"They're well-coached but they struggled with injuries all year. She got them healthy at the right time, and I knew they were going to be a tough opponent," Soddy-Daisy coach Moises Drumond said.

"I knew this one was going to be close. It wasn't the prettiest of games because we had some adversity there, but the players that had to come in because of injuries did a phenomenal job."

Soddy-Daisy drew first blood on a Summer Ghaffari goal off an Amy Rasmussen assist 11 minutes in, but Arielle Fortune's score with 5:23 remaining left the score tied at halftime.

The "Women of Troy," as Soddy-Daisy players refer to themselves, punched across the go-ahead goal (and eventual winner) 13 minutes into the second half as Asher Smith put away Olivia Gore's assist.

Two of those who entered the game because of injuries were Grace Sims and Emma Sneed.

"Grace had never played center back. She's mostly been a center-mid for us," Drumond said, "and she went back there for the first time and did a good job, and Emma also turned in a great performance."

Contact Ward Gossett at wgossett@timesfreepress.com or 423-886-4765.

Upcoming Events