McCallie’s soccer team, top-ranked in Tennessee, was unable to separate itself from second-ranked Father Ryan as the two Division II-AA powerhouses fought to a 1-1 draw Wednesday evening at McCallie.
Father Ryan (7-0-1) seemed to have all of the momentum in the first half, winning possession of the ball often and getting it into good attacking position on the McCallie side of the field regularly.
“I thought we definitely had better possession in the first half, and we were able to establish our style of play early,” Father Ryan coach Robin Dietrich said.
The first goal of the game came in the 27th minute when Father Ryan’s Kyle Hellman got the ball at midfield on a counterattack with two McCallie defenders in his way. Logan Russell and Jonah Bryan closed quickly on both sides, but Hellman was able to outrun them, getting the ball past the Blue Tornado keeper and into the bottom left corner of the net for the first goal.
“They are a good team, and they are well-coached,” McCallie coach Chris Cushenbery said. “They made it hard for us to do what we like to do, especially in the first half. We weren’t sharp either, and I feel like we didn’t make the most of the chances we had in the first half.”