Sasha Carbone didn't see it coming when she was stopped by a defender's attack from behind on the soccer field Thursday afternoon.
Keeping her eyes on the prize ultimately paid off for the GPS senior and her teammates, who earned the chance to play for the TSSAA Division II-AA state title.
After being tripped intentionally in the box with her back turned to her opponent in the final 10 minutes of regulation, Carbone exacted the best type of revenge as she blistered the winning shot in the 86th minute, scoring the lone goal of overtime in a 2-1 semifinal victory over Hutchison at Chattanooga Christian School.
"When I saw the goal go in, I was overwhelmed with emotions," the standout forward said. "That was really exciting to see everyone go crazy cheering. We deserved to win this game. I wasn't bothered that they (Hutchison) played really aggressive, but it's nice they lost. They didn't deserve to win."
The statistics backed up her assessment. The Bruisers were dominant with a 7-1 advantage in shots on goal for the match and held their composure despite being fouled 26 times.
"They probably fouled Sasha 15 times, but she is incredibly strong," GPS coach Patrick Winecoff said. "She did a great job of gathering herself and going right back at them. I told all of our girls how proud I was of them for not losing their cool and just playing good soccer to win this game."
Carbone's winner was assisted by Kennedy Ball, another senior star. Ball, who is committed to Arkansas, scored in the 10th minute, thanks to a dazzling display of footwork down the end line and into the box, where she was fouled to earn a penalty kick. She placed it perfectly into the back right corner to make it 1-0.
The Sting drew even 10 minutes later on Molly Browne's goal.
GPS (13-2-1) will take on Briarcrest (13-1-2) for the championship at 4 p.m. Friday in East Ridge at CHI Memorial Stadium, the home of USL League One's Chattanooga Red Wolves and the USL W League's Lady Red Wolves. The Lady Saints advanced with a 2-1 win earlier Thursday against GPS rival Baylor.
"It's the end of the run," said Carbone, who played up on the Bruisers' state championship team in 2018 as an eighth grader, along with Ball and Hayden Wise. "It's time to go big or go home. To win a state championship in our hometown would be so exciting and would make this game-winning goal even more special to me."
The Bruisers wore Hutchison (10-5-4) out down the stretch as the stellar trio of Ball, Carbone and Wise locked in against their Memphis foe. Carbone had seven shots and three on goal in the victory, which sends GPS to its first state title match since falling 3-2 to Father Ryan in 2020.
"Everybody is excited," Winecoff said. "It's an honor to be able to play in the finals in front of friends and family here in Chattanooga. These girls have a chance to finish a special run."
In the earlier semifinal at CCS, Baylor's Lady Red Raiders (15-6-1) were unable to get past Briarcrest despite striking first. In the 73rd minute, Ali Howard — the daughter of former U.S. men's national team goalkeeper Tim Howard — lifted a high-arcing shot from the far left sideline that magically dropped into the right side of the net for the tiebreaking score.
The Lady Red Raiders had three great looks in the last four minutes as they tried to equalize, which included their last chance as Jada Cooper's shot hit the crossbar in the 78th.
Baylor held a 19-11 advantage on shots and scored the match's first goal in the 47th minute on a great dish from Cooper to the right post, where Sophia Mize stuck with the rebound from her first shot to run the ball into the net. Briarcrest's tying goal came nine minutes after that.
"I am proud of our girls for their effort and making it this far after we lost 85% of our scoring from last season. A lot of people didn't expect us to be here," said Baylor coach Curtis Blair, whose team was the DII-AA runner-up to Harpeth Hall in 2021.
"Claire Holtzclaw did a great job leading this team. She has played since eighth grade for us, and we put a lot on her shoulders in terms of being a captain. She fullfilled every expectation we asked of her and gave us her best effort all year long."
USJ 4, Silverdale Baptist 1: Four players scored for University School of Jackson (18-2), which fired off 29 shots, including 15 on goal, in a DII-A semifinal played on Baylor's campus. Silverdale (16-2-1) got a goal from Abigail Witten in the 75th minute off a long pass by Brooke Bolton, and Rachel Baker finished with 10 saves in the defeat.
BGA 5, Boyd Buchanan 0: Catherine Schreiber scored two goals and Keaton Mitchell had a pair of assists for Battle Ground Academy (17-4) in the other DII-A semifinal at Baylor. Abigail Aman had four shots on goal for Boyd Buchanan, which finished 13-5-4 as a stellar late-season run came to a close.
BGA and USJ will meet in Friday's second title match at CHI Memorial Stadium, which is hosting all five finals.
Murfreesboro Central 1, East Hamilton 0: Julia Ann Hamilton scored in the 18th minute to lift Murfreesboro Central (19-6) into the Class AA title match. For East Hamilton (16-5-1), keeper Maggie Rickerd made nine saves and Natalie Simulius and Lyla Smallwood attempted shots in the final two minutes of a semifinal held at GPS. Murfreesboro Central will face Page (22-0-2) — a 5-1 semifinal winner against Greeneville (14-11) — at 11 a.m. Saturday.
Cumberland Gap 3, Arts & Sciences 0: Aly Ramsey scored in the 15th and 38th minutes while also providing an assist in the first half for Cumberland Gap (19-1-2) in a Class A semifinal held at CCS. CSAS (14-6-2) held an 18-17 shot advantage for the match, with Cheyenne Frye and Taylor Sabo combining for 10, and Anna Chen had two shots on goal in the defeat. Cumberland Gap will face Merrol Hyde — a 4-0 winner against Culleoka (17-1-2) at 4 p.m. Saturday.
That day's 1:30 p.m. final for Class AAA will match Bearden (23-0) and Houston (18-0-1). Bearden was a 7-0 semifinal winner against Station Camp (16-3-3) and Houston won 4-0 against Siegel (17-5-2) in semifinals at Baylor.
Contact Patrick MacCoon at pmaccoon@timesfreepress.com and follow him on Twitter @PMacCoon.