When a header by McCallie’s Garrett Hicks bounded off the crossbar in the final moments, it gave an evenly played soccer game between the Blue Tornado and Chattanooga Christian a fitting final margin.
Both teams are ranked in the state top 11, regardless of classification, and they battled to a 0-0 tie. The game featured two shots that glanced off crossbars and another that hit off a side post.
“We can try to put the ball in the right spot, but sometimes the crossbar gets in the way,” McCallie coach Tony Meyers joked. “We put a couple of shots on frame; they just didn’t go in.”
Said Chattanooga Christian coach Shawn Brower, also jokingly: “The goal post was friendly for us, and we appreciate it, but it was for them, too. We hit the post first.”
Early in the second half, CCS’s Corey Wilson fired a shot that McCallie keeper David Fine got a hand on. His tip went off the top bar, and Fine was there to gobble it up before Adam Ryan was able to get a clean shot off.
Ryan later had a shot that sailed wide, while Rocklin Shumaker — the area’s leading goal scorer — had a shot off a free kick that bounced off the back of a McCallie player.
The Tornado (5-2-3) had a flurry of chances late. Hicks had a shot late in the half off a pass from Arturo Rocha that hit the right post, and then Sterling DeLapp had a shot that Chargers keeper Josh Blomberg tipped over the crossbar.
A diving Hicks header off a pass from Sylar Holmes was saved by back Roy Anderson in the first half.
Blomberg, who finished with five saves, was issued a yellow card for throwing an elbow at DeLapp after making a save.
“The defensive effort was outstanding today,” Brower said. “They had us on our heels, but we never backed down.”
Said Meyers: “This is the kind of competition we want to be playing as we prepare for the postseason.”
Both teams are in the midst of tough stretches of games. McCallie, ranked seventh in the state, is coming off a week in which it faced Father Ryan (ranked third — No. 1 in Division II-AA), Montgomery Bell Academy (fourth in DII-AA, 11th overall) and CCS (top-ranked in Class A/AA, 10th overall). The Tornado finished with a win over the Irish and ties with MBA and CCS.
The Chargers (9-1-2) host rival Notre Dame on Tuesday.
“Today’s game was a big step forward in our process,” Brower said. “This game doesn’t define our team, but I hope it will help prepare us for the next. I always tell the guys to not get too high or too low, but a tie helps that to not happen.”