After Nick McElroy tore an ACL in a club game last summer, it looked as if the Boyd-Buchanan senior would spend his final high school soccer season cheering on his teammates from the sideline.
Even when doctors cleared him to practice a few weeks ago, McElroy and Buccaneers coach Dustin Walker knew it would take a deep run in the postseason for McElroy to get game action.
So when the Bucs made it to the Division II-A state quarterfinals and McElroy finally got the chance to join them, all he wanted to do was help them win. Little did he know that he would be right in the middle of possibly the biggest goal this senior class has scored.
With just over five minutes remaining in Friday night’s game against visiting Franklin Road Academy, McElroy beat the Panthers’ diving goalkeeper to the ball off a free kick and tapped it back to fellow senior Ayden Otero, who buried it in the back of the net. That held up for a 1-0 Bucs victory that sent them to the Spring Fling state semifinals in Murfreesboro next week.
“Just playing again feels amazing,” McElroy said with a huge smile. “I saw the free kick and knew that I wanted it. I wanted to score, but I’ll definitely take the assist any time.”