Baylor wasted no time as Elizabeth Stophel and company came out of the gate firing on all cylinders in Tuesday’s 2-0 home victory over Chattanooga Christian in the TSSAA Division II-AA Region soccer semifinals.
The Lady Red Raiders (16-4-1) received both of their goals in the opening 20 minutes of play as juniors Elizabeth Stophel and Jada Cooper provided all the damage needed.
A patient Stophel sent a score to the back right off a corner which could not be cleared by the Lady Chargers in the 11th minute. Cooper then ignited the pull-away score as she sent a chip shot pass over the top to senior Hadleigh Warton, who crossed over a defender in the box before passing back to Cooper, who lifted a brilliant shot into the upper left.
“We started the game on fire,” Baylor coach Curtis Blair said. “We set the tone and challenged our girls in the locker room to come out fast. We played our brand of soccer in front of an amazing crowd tonight. The bleachers were packed. This was really such a great atmosphere for a high school soccer game.”
Fans had good reason to pack out the concrete bleachers and grassy hills on each side, as the last matchup between the two stellar programs resulted in a 2-1 road win for the Lady Red Raiders in a match where all the goals came in the second half.
Baylor’s defensive shutout was led by junior Sophia Mize and freshman Lillian Catalanotto, who stepped into unfamiliar spots to shine.
Mize had a strong defensive stand on a run into the box by CCS freshman Hadley Griffith late as the Lady Red Raiders never allowed a shot from close in during the win.
“Lillie and Sophia aren’t really center backs, but they did what we needed them to do tonight and were outstanding,” Blair said. “The distribution out of the back was what got our attack going tonight.
Also, to see Hadleigh have a great assist tonight was special. She got in a wreck with some of our girls last Saturday and it was great to see her get back out there and have success. She set up a really special score for Jada.”
CCS (14-3-2) was knocking on the door in the second half as sophomore midfielder Lauren Alexander had a pair of dangerous free kicks, a long pass for a close look and a corner kick which nearly dropped in for a goal.
“Lauren is a very versatile player for us,” said Lady Chargers coach Tyler Robertson, whose team starts four freshmen and sophomores. “Lauren can put the ball 50 yards on a platter. She is a great player and a huge part of our young core which has built such a budding and strong culture for this program.”
This Saturday, Baylor will travel to GPS for the region championship while CCS will travel to Father Ryan to determine seeding for the Division II-AA state tournament.
Contact Patrick MacCoon at pmaccoon@timesfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @PMacCoon.