Staff photo by Robin Rudd / McCallie’s Gui Vivaldini, right, breaks toward the goal as Father Ryan’s David Ward defends during a TSSAA Division II-AA tournament semifinal on May 22, 2019, in Murfreesboro, Tenn. Vivaldini scored the winning goal in McCallie’s 2-1 overtime victory that sent the Blue Tornado into a state final for the third straight season.The spring season for Tennessee high school sports officially begins Monday, with the Chattanooga area’s schedule on opening day highlighted by a soccer match between two nationally ranked programs.
With a record of 70-10-11 over the past five seasons and coming off last year’s Division II-AA state title, McCallie appears to have one of its best teams yet. The Blue Tornado are ranked No. 2 in the nation by Top Drawer Soccer and will kick off their schedule by facing perennial Georgia and national power Dalton at 7 p.m. at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga’s intramural complex.
GHSA soccer teams have been playing since early February, and Dalton enters the matchup 5-1. The Catamounts are five-time state champions, including last year’s Class AAAAAA title, and No. 14 in the Top Drawer rankings. Their loss was to No. 13 Harrison.
McCallie has four of the area’s six players who are on the All-America watch list according to Top Drawer Soccer: Neal Carlson, Andrew Prescott, Noah Tremain and Gui Vivaldini, who was the only sophomore in the country to earn All-America honors last season, when he scored 22 goals and assisted on 12 others.
Baylor sophomore David Danquah and Dalton’s Manny Prieto are on the All-America watch list as well.