East Hamilton produced all of its damage on set pieces in Monday’s 3-1 victory over East Ridge in the Region 4-2A soccer semifinals held at Chattanooga School Leadership Academy’s turf field.
In the 20th minute, the Hurricanes (10-5-4) struck first with a creative corner kick where Maddux Seal regained possession after his pass in and set up a perfect charging strike in the middle of the box off the left foot of Yahia Baniahmad into the top of the goal.
East Hamilton’s Charles Carriglitto took command in the second half offensively, as he headed a corner kick in on an assist from captain Brayden Hunter and then provided a 3-score lead in the 65th minute with a roundhouse kick off a long throw-in from his team’s sideline.
“Charles’ third goal took a little bit off of us,” Hurricanes head coach Patrick Daverson said. “East Ridge has some great guys and had a great postseason. To see us execute some of the set pieces we have worked on for the postseason was really nice to see. Now, I get to celebrate my wife and I’s anniversary when we host Signal Mountain for the region title on Wednesday. She is an assistant coach for them. The guys are super excited.”
East Ridge (10-10-1) was led by a pair of standout senior captains in Alex Briseno-Cruz and Domingo Tercero, as they were part of a strong senior class of eight. Sophomore Pioneer Angel Morrugares scored in the closing minutes on a sharp strike from the right side into the top left corner of the net.