MURFREESBORO, Tenn. - Despite being on different fields against different teams in different divisions, Baylor and Boyd-Buchanan found themselves in almost identical matches in the boys' soccer state semifinals Wednesday at the TSSAA Spring Fling.
Both teams largely controlled their competition in the first half but found themselves in 1-all ties at the break. Yet both found a way to pull away in the second half, with Baylor's Red Raiders putting away two goals in the second half to defeat rival McCallie 3-1 in a Division II-AA semifinal and Boyd Buchanan's Buccaneers getting a second-half goal from Ben Hauke to defeat University School of Nashville 2-1 and advance to the Division II-A title match.
In Class AA, the Chattanooga area's lone remaining representative in public school state competition was eliminated as Red Bank lost 1-0 to Page in another semifinal.
In the all-Chattanooga DII-AA semifinal, Baylor teed off on the McCallie back line but had a number of shots sail high or wide throughout the match. The Red Raiders finished with a 21-7 shot advantage, including a 10-2 edge in shots on goal, but less than 10 minutes after Phelipe Spielman scored in the 31st minute, McCallie's Gordon Lewis converted a tying penalty kick.
Mohammed Wumpini put Baylor back in front in the 56th minute before Guilherme Gragnano put the exclamation point on the match with a nice left-footed goal from the 18-yard mark. The Red Raiders improved to 17-1-1 and ended the Blue Tornado's season at 8-6-2.
"All year long, it's not about who we play. It's about us," Baylor coach Curtis Blair said. "We feel like if we go and we move the ball, then we feel like we can be very successful, and that's what our guys have got to recognize, that it's more about us. We talk about other teams and scout other teams, but at the end of the day, we have the players that it's got to be about us, and we've got to be willing to commit to ourselves and the style that we want to play."
The Red Raiders will face 2021 state runner-up Father Ryan (9-4-5) - a 2-1 semifinal winner against Christian Brothers on Wednesday - at 7:30 p.m. Eastern on Thursday at the Richard Siegel Soccer Complex, with Baylor in the state final for the first time since winning it all in 2018 by beating McCallie in the title match. The Blue Tornado won the 2019 title, and Christian Brothers was last year's champion after the coronavirus pandemic led the TSSAA to cancel spring sports in 2020.
Meanwhile, Boyd-Buchanan is back in the finals for the first time since winning the Class A/AA title in 2010. The Bucs, who were 0-3 in the state tournament since that championship until Wednesday's win, will face Franklin Grace (15-2-2) at 5 p.m. Eastern. Franklin Grace advanced with a 3-1 victory against St. George's.
Boyd-Buchanan (18-2) finished its semifinal with 24 shots, and the 11 on goal included a first-half score by Miles Wood to go up 1-0. USN (13-3-3) finished with five shots, with only the tying goal by Tre Sheats on target.
"A number of times it's been this game that has kind of been the one that's got in our way," Boyd-Buchanan coach Dustin Walker said. "To finally kind of just get here, you're just so happy for the guys. And we're so thankful, man.
"We've been praying for this group for a long time to have this opportunity, because it's what coaches just want - the kids to have these opportunities and memories. ... We're just so thankful that the Lord has given us a chance."
Contact Gene Henley at ghenley@timesfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @genehenley3.