MURFREESBORO, Tenn. - On one field at the Richard Siegel Soccer Complex, Arts & Sciences senior defender Will Fraser and sophomore defender Jack Buffington sat stunned. Nearby, senior midfielder Asa Nichols laid on the ground as he held his head in disbelief, the scoreboard in the background signaling the Patriots' 3-2 loss to Gatlinburg-Pittman.
Two fields over, the pain hit a little slower for the Signal Mountain Eagles, who had fought back from two goals allowed in the first half against Franklin Grace only to succumb in a 2-1 loss.
The title matchup the two Chattanooga-area programs wanted was gone - as were their seasons with the snap of a finger. Both fell in the Class A state semifinals Wednesday night, with 2018 champion Gatlinburg-Pittman and Franklin Grace advancing to Friday afternoon's title match.
CSAS (13-6-4) led 1-0 at the break on a rebound shot by Cole Avery in the 14th minute, but the Highlanders (19-3-1) scored three goals in the first five minutes of the second half. The Patriots looked shell-shocked - even to their coaches - but they moved Fraser to forward and watched him score, cutting the deficit in half.
They created a few more chances but were unable to push the equalizing goal into the net.
"You have guys who wanted it," CSAS coach David Poss said. "They didn't want their senior year to end. We made as many adjustments as can be made. We ran three different formations to find the final solution, and it worked, but they (Gatlinburg-Pittman) know how to manage the clock."
The Eagles, who fell to the Highlanders in last season's state final, found themselves behind against Franklin Grace after Sam Barrionuevo had an unassisted goal in the third minute that was followed by a goal by Alex Johnson in the 27th.
Signal Mountain (17-4) got to its style of play - possession - in the second half, and that created some opportunities and even led to Aaron Easterly scoring on a corner kick. Like the Patriots, though, the Eagles couldn't put together the extra goal to match the Lions (20-2-2).
"We had to survive and not make things worse until halftime, when we could make some adjustments," Eagles coach Richard Northcutt said. "We did not look like we did last year in this game. We looked (last year) like they looked today - we played really good soccer. We tried to step it up in the second half and play direct. We didn't get the result we wanted, but it's better than sitting back and taking a beating.
"It's tough to dig yourself out of a hole in soccer."
Contact Gene Henley at ghenley@timesfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @genehenley3 or at Facebook.com/VolsUpdate.