As David Poss met with his heartbroken Arts & Sciences girls’ soccer team after Wednesday’s shootout loss to Westview in a TSSAA Class A state quarterfinal, he made sure the Lady Patriots left the field at GPS with their heads held high.
“I told the girls there is no one in CSAS history who can say they have been to the state tournament three times as a soccer team,” said Poss, who has been coaching at the school since 2010. “They certainly have built a foundation and left a remarkable legacy. This really was a unified group off the field as much as it was on the field. They were bought into not our program, but soccer as a whole.”
The Lady Patriots lost 6-5 on penalty kicks after the match ended both regulation play and the two 10-minute periods for overtime tied at 2. Those 100 midday minutes that set up the shootout were tightly played, with CSAS finishing with a 15-14 advantage in total shots.
CSAS senior Zeva Phillips, a set-piece extraordinaire, was remarkable one final time for the Lady Patriots (12-10-3) as her powerful right foot provided a pair of goals that nearly lifted them to Thursday’s semifinals. The Lady Patriots held a 2-1 lead from the 57th minute until the 75th, when freshman Ashlee Brent’s second goal brought Westview (17-1) even.
Phillips’ free kick from the left sideline from in front of the corner arc curled into the back right of the net for the game’s first equalizer in the 45th minute. Just 12 minutes later, Phillips drilled a 45-yard free kick from straight on that sailed over the keeper’s outstretched hands and into the goal for a 2-1 lead.