The Chattanooga Christian soccer Chargers have been labeled as a second-half team.
Saturday, they took care of business early.
The third-ranked Chargers scored two goals in the first 11 minutes against Science Hill in the final of the seventh annual CCS tournament and went on to a 3-0 victory.
“We wanted to do things well right away,” CCS coach Shawn Brower said. “Jumping on the other team takes the pressure off.”
CCS (7-1-1) got on the board three minutes into the game when Jacob Warren made a run down the left side, reaching the goal line before crossing the ball into Drew Daniels, who finished the goal.
The lead grew to 2-0 at the 29:06 mark of the first half when Taylor Black scored off a rebound. The Chargers had been awarded a free kick when Science Hill keeper Nick Smith was called for touching the ball outside the box. Corey Wilson took the free kick and, after it bounded off a Science Hill player, Black followed for a score.
After that, the CCS defense took over, limiting the chances of the Hilltoppers’ top ball threat, Alex Weaver. The senior midfielder, who has signed to play soccer for NCAA Division II St. Edwards University, showed off some fancy ball-handling skills but never got a clean look against the Chargers.
“I was pleased with our defensive effort — from the front to the back,” Brower said. “Tonight was our fifth shutout in a row.”
The ‘Toppers started the second half by pushing extra players into the attack. The plan backfired later, however, when Michael Powell on a counterattack placed a perfect feed to Will Taylor, who scored the icing goal.
“We were very efficient offensively,” Brower said. “You see games in which a team has 20 shots but only two goals. A lot of that is mental, so we’ve been trying to make good habits out of executing.”
The Chargers ran through the tournament, winning three games by a combined 18-0 score.
“The last couple of games, what we’ve worked on in practice has came through,” Brower said. “Shelbyville and Science Hill were two of the better teams in the tournament. I actually thought Science Hill was the best team in the tournament.
“I thought we did what we needed to do to be successful; winning 3-0 today was not a fluke.”