McMinn Central coach Bill McConkey knew his Chargers faced long odds.
After all, they could have finished second in the district. But they won their district, won their region, won a sub-state game and were in the State championship tournament.
That’s where their season ended on Wednesday, in a 3-0 loss to defending state champion Christian Academy of Knoxville which advances to the Class A/AA semifinals where it will face Greeneville.
“For us to beat them, we would have needed a lot of luck and a lot of things go our way,” McConkey said. “You’re never happy to lose, but we’re not disappointed with the season. It’s a tribute to their willingness to work.”
CAK junior Kiah Allen scored two goals before taking a seat after receiving a yellow card. Laura Morse, her replacement, added a third goal. Junior midfielder Paige Hoffman assisted on all three goals.
Allen scored her first goal less than five minutes into the game. She broke away on a counter-attack, slid behind the defense, and shot it low and past Alisa Guardiola.
Later in the first half, Hofman slipped Hall the ball which left her one-on-one with Guardiola who couldn’t stop a second low blast.
Hoffman received her third assist when Morse took two dribbles and put another behind Guardiola who had 22 saves in the game.
“We were pretty sharp,” CAK coach Ried Estus said. “We kept possession; we won foot-races and Kiah is a big time player and if you give her chances, she’s going to put it in the net.”
* Greeneville 10, McNairy Central 0: Caroline Lodge had four goals and an assist, while Taylor Leng added three goals and two assists as the second-ranked Lady Greene Devils (20-2-1) scored five goals in each half on their way to a 10-0 drubbing of McNairy Central (17-1-1).
* Page 6, Dyersburg 1: Kate Maguigan, who will play for the University of Michigan next year, had two goals, while both Marlee Maynard and Micki Dye chipped in a goal and an assist as the Lady Patriots (19-3-2) advanced to the state semifinals over the Lady Trojans.
Savannah Johnson had the lone goal for Dyersburg (16-7), in the second half.
Class A/AA State Tournament
CHRISTIAN ACADEMY OF KNOXVILLE 3, MCMINN CENTRAL 0
Halftime score: 2-0. Goals: Kiah Allen 2, Laura Morris. Assists: Paige Hoffman 3. Shots: CAK, 28-3. Saves: Alisa Guradiola 22 (MC); Sally Jernigan 2 (CAK). Records: CAK 16-4-3; McMinn Central 11-6-2.