MURFREESBORO, Tenn — There had been a contagious energy around the McCallie soccer program all season.
Through ups and downs, there was always a belief that everything would work out for the Blue Tornado in the end, a confident approach spearheaded by senior Alejandro Dominguez as they made their way to the state tournament at the TSSAA Spring Fling for the 10th time in the past 11 editions.
So in Thursday night’s TSSAA Division II-AA final at the Richard Siegel Soccer Complex, where McCallie had built a two-goal first-half advantage, when that lead was cut in half with just less than 10 minutes to play after Briarcrest Christian’s TJ White scored, Dominguez started yelling: “We’re all right! We’re all right!”
It was a sentiment echoed by the McCallie bench. And if there was any question about that, Finn Arnold put those doubts to bed.
Arnold scored twice and Dominguez once, and the Blue Tornado won their fourth state championship under head coach Chris Cushenbery and their fifth overall with the 3-1 victory.