CHATTANOOGA – The Chuckey-Doak Black Knights traveled to Chattanooga for a sectional matchup with Chattanooga School for the Liberal Arts and showed grit, determination, and courage but fell short in a double overtime marathon, losing 4-3.
“It was a very tough one to swallow. I thought we had that one. There were some unfortunate calls and non-calls, but other than that we left it all on the field,” Chuckey-Doak Head Coach Steven Neesen said.
What a run it was for the Black Knights. No one expected them to make it past Pigeon Forge in the District 1-A semifinals. Not many people pictured the small group from Lower Afton to make noise in Chattanooga and hold a lead with less than 20 minutes remaining in sectionals. Chuckey-Doak kept proving everybody wrong and were oh so close to doing it again on Saturday.
“They did a fantastic job all season, but definitely in the post season. There’re some games we shouldn’t have won, but won. We showed them what Chuckey-Doak is all about,” Neesen stated.
After going down 2-0 and trailing at the half, the Black Knights caught fire and busted the door down while CSLA was napping and scored three quick goals in a 12-minute span to take a 3-2 lead.
For a minute it felt like Chuckey-Doak could close the door and finish the job. But CSLA proved why they are one of the top ranked teams in Class A. The Eagles netted the equalizer in the 66th minute and forced overtime. It took a full 100 minutes to decide a winner, but CSLA scored the difference maker in double overtime at the 92-minute mark to finish Chuckey-Doak’s remarkable run.
Ryland Grindstaff and Dom Hahnlen were lethal on offense with all three goals. Grindstaff scored the first two goals to help tie the score and Hahnlen scored the tiebreaker following Grindstaff’s pair.
The Eagles had four different players score all four goals.
CSLA didn’t find any offensive success until the 24th minute of the contest. Chuckey-Doak had held them in check and kept them quiet for the game up until that point. Oreen Yahya was the first player to score and helped CSLA lead 1-0.
The lead grew with Adrick Hall’s goals in the 31st minute. The Eagles quickly took a 2-0 lead into the break.
The Black Knights settled down at halftime and came out looking like a totally different team. Chuckey-Doak sensed their season was on the line and went on a relentless attack that resulted in a trio of goals.
Rylan Grindstaff sent a rocket scorching past the keeper for a goal in the 46th minute and cut it to 1-2.
Grindstaff scored once again only two minutes later to tie things up. The junior forced the goalie to come out and abandon the goal and then he maneuvered past him for a tough-angled shot that squeezed past the pipe and in. The Black Knights and Eagles were knotted up 2-2 in the 48th minute.
“He’s a great athlete. There’s no doubt about it,” Coach Neesen stated.
Senior Dom Hahnlen scored the next goal in the 58th minute to send Chuckey-Doak into a frenzy. The often-overlooked bunch from Lower Afton managed to erase a two-goal deficit and take the lead, 3-2, with a trip to state on the line.
For a few moments it looked like Chuckey-Doak’s back line was impenetrable and could hold CSLA scoreless the rest of the way. Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case.
Henry Spann hugged the goalpost for an equalizer in the 66th minute to knot the score at 3-3.
Neither team could find the game-clinching goal in regulation and overtime would ensue. Both teams were set for two 10-minute overtime periods with no golden goal.
The first ten-minute period passed with no scoring.
Both teams entered the second overtime period before a potential penalty shootout. Although the shootout wouldn’t be needed.
Conner Tate scored the go-ahead and game-clinching goal in the 92nd minute to deliver the most devastating blow to the Black Knights.
Chuckey-Doak wasn’t able to recover and find the back of the net in the final eight minutes as CSLA ended the Black Knights season with a 4-3 loss in sectionals.
“It was just a great game for Chuckey-Doak and we showed the region that we’ve got a good team,” Coach Neesen said.
The Black Knights finished their season with a 10-9-1 overall record with runner-up finishes in the District 1-1A and Region 1-1A Tournaments and finished one win shy of reaching the Class 1A State Tournament.
