Notre Dame’s Lady Irish may have wondered Thursday if the persistence they showed throughout their Class A/AA high school soccer state semifinal would pay off.
It finally did.
Sophie Mullin got a kick to glance off the right-side post and into the net with 1:07 remaining and Notre Dame defeated Page 1-0 at Chattanooga Christian.
Notre Dame (11-7-3) created a rematch of last year’s state final against defending champion Christian Academy of Knoxville. The Lady Warriors defeated Greeneville 2-1 in the earlier semifinal.
The Lady Irish and CAK (17-4-3), which has won the last two titles and three of the last four, will play for the championship Saturday at GPS at noon.
Notre Dame ended up with a 19-6 edge in shots against the Lady Patriots and spent most of the second half possessing the ball on Page’s half of the field. The Lady Irish’s opportunitues included six corner kicks – all in the final 27:30, while Page had none in the match – and Mullin narrowly missed scoring when she hit the crossbar with a kick late in the first half.
“We were working and had some good chances,” Notre Dame coach Jim Schermerhorn said. “We just weren’t connecting at the end.”
Ultimately Blair Barker ended up racing with the ball down the left side before sending a cross into the box. The ball caromed briefly off some bodies before ending up in front of Mullin, who squeezed it by on the upper right side.
“It just came to me,” Mullin said. “After that I thought, ‘I have to hit this goal,’ and it went in. Coach always has me working on getting my technique down, and it just worked right then.
“I’m so excited. It’s the best feeling ever.”
Keeper Grace Courter made four saves while registering the shutout. Schermerhorn said his team’s defense has been strong in both tournament matches the last two days and not just around the net.
“Our fullbacks and goalkeeper have worked really well together,” Schermerhorn said, “but I think the whole team defending has been what’s worked well.”
Notre Dame lost 2-1 in last year’s championship match. Painfully for the Lady Irish, the game-winner was a long, high-arching shot with less than two minutes to play.
Schermerhorn said there was no reason to waste time thinking about any possible rematch over the last year, but all that changed Thursday.
“We’ve come a long way this year,” he said. “Getting to the final is really big. They’ve worked hard together. There was a lot to do throughout the year, and it’s come down to this. Now we can think a whole lot about CAK.”
* CAK 2, Greeneville 1: Paige Hoffman scored eight minutes into the second half, and the four-time defending state champions moved on to Saturday’s state final with a 2-1 victory over Greeneville. Caroline Lodge scored eight minutes into the game for the second-ranked Lady Greene Devils (20-3-1), but fourth-ranked CAK’s Kiah Allen tied the game up with a goal two minutes later.
Class A/AA State Tournament
Semifinal at Chattanooga Christian
NOTRE DAME 1, PAGE 0
Halftime score: 0-0. Goal: Sophie Mullin. Assist: Blair Barker. Shots: Notre Dame, 19-6. Saves: Grace Courter 4 (ND); Sierra Campbell 11 (P). Records: Notre Dame 11-7-3; Page 19-4-2.