Notre Dame and Chattanooga Christian wrote another dazzling chapter in a District 7-A/AA rivalry that has produced its fair share of memorable moments on the soccer field in recent years.
Senior defender Alex Darras was in the right place at the right time on a late corner kick, and his right foot lifted the Fighting Irish to a 1-0 win at home Friday night.
“It’s always a tough game against a tough team – it goes back and forth,” Notre Dame coach Jim Schermerhorn said. “They knocked us out in the district tournament last year in like the ninth round of penalty kicks after it was 0-0 all the way, and the year before that it was a 1-0 win for us. So whoever wins this game gets a lot of confidence.”
But even before Darras smacked the game-winning goal into the top of the net, things looked too familiar for Chargers coach David Stanton. Less than two weeks ago, Northwest Whitfield netted a similar corner to salvage a draw against CCS. Again, it was with about a minute left to play.
“When they were lining up for that corner, I said, ‘I don’t like the look of this,'” Stanton said. “Something didn’t feel right. Maybe I was having flashbacks to Northwest. It was just the same thing in the same spot, the same everything. It’s a huge disappointment.”
Notre Dame (10-2-3, 3-0) came out firing in the first half, blasting shot after shot, but tough defense and brave goalkeeping by Micaiah Allison kept CCS in the game with a scoreless half.
By the time the Irish lined up for the final corner, it felt like it was CCS (5-2-1, 2-1) that was in control.
“They (the Irish) just came out playing so hard, it’s unusual a team can keep that up for a full 80-minute clip,” Stanton said. “We felt like we had a good chance in the second half.”
Part of the shift was the presence of Milan Card for the Irish. Card was wreaking havoc in the first half in space. He was able to slide past defenders and stroked a number of dangerous shots on goal, including one that made Allison leave his feet for a sparkling save.
“When you give him space, it’s not good for the other team. It’s good for us,” Schermerhorn said. “He was finding a lot of space, and CCS changed that in the second half. We created a lot of chances and didn’t finish. That last one was unusual because a corner kick doesn’t usually end up on the ground like that.”
On the other side of the Irish’s elation after Darras’ goal was a hard loss for the Chargers to swallow, and Stanton said his team’s performance next week will help determine the long-term effects and feelings of another late strike by an opponent – this time a district rival.
Contact Idris Garcis at sports@timesfreepress.com