MURFREESBORO, Tenn. — Coaches are always excited to see a game plan worked to perfection.
Because of their attention to detail before state-tournament match Tuesday against Madison, the Boyd-Buchanan soccer coaches devised a plan to work the wings and create opportunities. The result was a pair of first-half assists for Taylor Shull and a 3-0 victory, advancing the Buccaneers to the state semifinals.
They will face Christ Presbyterian Academy, a 1-0 winner over Christian Academy of Knoxville, at 5:30 p.m. EDT today.
“We heard that we could attack them on the wings, so that’s what we focused on,” said Shull, a Maryville College football signee.
Shull and Clint Babb hooked up on a free kick about five minutes into the game, with Babb’s header making the score 1-0. Shull added another assist 25 minutes in, when he found Drew Zumbrun for a goal.
Shull, the team’s leading goal-scorer during the season, enjoyed his role as playmaker in Tuesday’s contest.
“It doesn’t matter how we get the goals as long as we get them,” he said.
The speedy Chase Reed finished the scoring in the 50th minute, scoring off a pass from Mason Wortman.
“We did a good job of possessing the ball today,” Boyd-Buchanan coach Jason Owens said. “We made good runs in hopes of confusing the defense, and we were able to do just that.”
The defenders did their job as well, posting their sixth consecutive shutout and eighth in nine games. Madison came into the game averaging nearly five goals a game.
“We did a good job of coming back from the midfield,” Owens said. “Our midfield is so strong that it really caused a lot of problems for them. We were really on the defensive all the time.”
Boyd-Buchanan lost in the semifinals in 2008, its last trip to Spring Fling.
“We’re not ready to stop,” Owens said. “We were here a couple years ago and got beat here, so we’re ready to win the next one and do something new.”
Added Shull: “It was a lot different two years ago. We were sophomores and happy to be here. This year that’s not OK. We want to finish it off.”