After Thursday’s Region 3-A/AA boys’ high school soccer final at Hixson, both coaches frowned about some scoring chances that went amiss for their teams. Unfortunately for Hixson’s Jeff Dean, that’s about all he was left to talk about.
Boyd-Buchanan’s Buccaneers converted some of their opportunities, defeating the Wildcats 3-0 and earning the third region title in the program’s 21-year history. The eight seniors on this year’s squad have been part of two of them.
Boyd-Buchanan (16-2-2) will host Notre Dame in one of Saturday’s state sectionals at 7:30 p.m. Hixson (18-2-1) will play at Region 4 champion Chattanooga Christian at 7.
The Bucs led 1-0 at halftime after a well-executed play off a direct free kick with about seven minutes left in the half. Taylor Shull was 30 yards out when he lofted his kick inside the box, where Clint Babb timed his leap and headed it into the net.
A little less than halfway through the second half, Boyd-Buchanan’s Joey Glisson converted from in close off Mason Wortman’s corner kick. The final goal came with about three minutes remaining when Chase Reed, from right of the goal, centered a pass to Ian Pilgrim, who scored from point-blank range.
Boyd-Buchanan coach Dustin Walker said the Bucs didn’t alter much after getting ahead. He said at the halftime break his point of emphasis was for the players to continue doing what they were doing.
“We just tried to continue to put the pressure on them,” Walker said. “We had some pretty quality chances. They had some chances, too. It was just a matter of finishing them.”
The Wildcats had a favorable opportunity to score first about midway through the first half when Sikhou Sy sent a pass from deep on the right side to Jacob Barber in front of the goal. His kick sailed slightly right of the goal.
Hixson’s other scoring chances included a couple of direct kicks by Nau Alvarez that sailed high. Boyd-Buchanan’s Reed had a kick hit the crossbar and shoot straight downward shortly before halftime.
“We had some chances. They had some chances,” Dean said. “Their goals were good goals. I think our guys played hard. We had the chances to have three goals ourselves. We just couldn’t finish.”