MURFREESBORO, Tenn. – After losing in last year’s TSSAA Division II-AA state semifinals, the Baylor boys’ soccer team’s rallying cry this season was revenge tour.
The Red Raiders had run through quality competition this year, losing only to Georgia state power Dalton and drawing with rival McCallie, a result they rectified with a 3-1 win over the Blue Tornado in Wednesday’s state semifinals.
But it couldn’t truly be revenge unless the Red Raiders took out the reason for that need, meaning they’d have to defeat Father Ryan, the team that beat them in a penalty kick shootout last year at the Spring Fling.
On Thursday, that revenge tasted sweet.
Baylor rallied from down a goal twice to defeat the Irish 4-2 in a shootout and win the program’s sixth state championship and first since 2018. The title match went to penalty kicks after finishing regulation and overtime at 2-all.