CHATTANOOGA – The Greeneville girls soccer team got a Herculean effort out of its defense on Tuesday, but could not get anything going on offense and saw its season come to an end in the quarterfinals of the Class AA State Tournament at Boyd Buchanan School in Chattanooga.
The Lady Greene Devils hung tough with top-ranked Liberty Creek all afternoon, but ultimately they fell 2-0 in the first game of the state tournament.
“We’re disappointed that we lost and we’re disappointed our run is over, but I’m really proud of these girls,” Greeneville coach Jerry Graham said. “Liberty Creek has some really high quality players that we had to give a lot attention to, and that took away from some of the things we do well. We were disciplined in what we wanted to do and the girls followed the game plan to a T. The effort today really was remarkable.”
While the season came to an end earlier than it hoped, returning to the state tournament for the 11th consecutive year was quite the accomplishment for Greeneville. All year the Lady Greene Devils had to battle youth, injuries, and depth but when the postseason arrived they figured out how to play their best soccer, leaving them as one of the final eight teams standing in Class AA.
“Getting back here is a continuation of our legacy. This is a big stage for a lot of our younger kids who are here for the first time,” Graham said. “Every year we want to be back here, and every year we want to win a state championship. I think people doubting their ability to get back lit a fire under this group. It took a lot of determination for these girls to get back here.”
Greeneville’s backline was under constant pressure on Tuesday as the Lady Wolves let 36 shots fly and put 16 of them on frame. Keeper Kerry Birdwell led the defensive effort with 14 saves and several more clearances that kept her side in the contest.
Less than 10 minutes before kickoff Birdwell was not even expecting to be between the pipes on Tuesday. Starting goalie Cailee Broyles injured her wrist in pregame warmups and the Lady Devils had to insert Birdwell at the last minute.
“Kerry stepped in and played amazing,” Graham said. “She knew she had to play a high line to save some stuff and did a remarkable job. She got down post to post, and I thought her play was absolutely high quality.”
Birdwell’s first save came in the seventh minute when the Lady Wolves moved into the box from right to left before Ivy Weigel fired a shot from the top of the 18.
The ball stayed with Liberty Creek and just one minute later Avery Baker charged up the middle and looked like she was going to take on Birdwell one-on-one. At the last second Marley VanBuskirk swooped in to dispossess the attacker and Matea Gray cleared the threat.
The shots kept coming from Lady Wolves with Rylee Zinchini banging a 20-yard free kick off the cross bar in the 10th minute. In the 13th minute Birdwell broke up a corner kick, and in the 22nd minute Taylor Haun delivered the perfect cross but Adalyn Medina shot nailed the post.
While the shots were frequent Greeneville’s defense made most of the looks tough with their high-pressure defense. VanBuskirk, Elaina Philbeck, Julieann Raby, Lorelei Birdwell, Hannah Lister and Ava Daniel gave it all they had on Tuesday and made sure nothing came easy for the Lady Wolves.
“We tried to pressure them on the outside and cover, and those girls did it almost perfectly,” Graham said. “That back line was under fire a lot today, but I’m really proud of how they handled it. Especially in the first half.”
Greeneville was able to withstand three corner kicks and two more free kicks in the first half, but the breakthrough came in the 39th minute.
Liberty Creek’s Alyssa Goin worked the ball to the left side of the 18-yard box where she lofted a pass in front of the frame. Greeneville got a touch on the pass but Huan was able to get a shot off from 10 yards and slip it inside the right post for a 1-0 lead.
“Not only that they scored, but when they scored, with one minute to go, it really changed things going into half,” Graham said. “I felt like if we go to half tied it builds confidence. We’re talking about how we get that goal to go ahead, or how we go to penalty kicks. But that changed with the goal before half. It hurt emotionally, but it also hurt from a game plan perspective. We felt like we had to go to a three back to try to get that goal back, and that made things tougher on our defense.”
Greeneville’s offense had relied on quick passing and possession for much of the postseason, but on Tuesday Liberty Creek made maintaining possession a tough task.
Greeneville only managed one shot on frame and that came in the fourth minute when Vivian Kammerdiener tried to curl in a look from the right side of the box. After that even advancing to the box proved challenging.
“Liberty Creek is a really good team, they are number one for a reason,” Graham said. “Their back line stepped to the ball really well, and I don’t think we realized how fast they stepped until we got out there. Then when we committed numbers to stopping their offense it reduced our numbers in the build up.”
In the second half Greeneville had to push more numbers forward to try to get the goal back. That put even more pressure on Birdwell, but still she was tough to beat, collecting three saves in the first 10 minutes of the second half.
In the 56th minute Liberty Creek got a spectacular cross from Ruby Saylor and Zinchini beat Birdwell to the ball, but the keeper touched the shot just enough to deflect it off target.
In the 59th Daniel was able to fly in and break up another cross to Zinchini that looked like a sure goal.
Liberty Creek stretched its lead to 2-0 in the 68th minute. Zinchini came up the left side and slipped a pass to Haun who charged into the box and sent a shot past the keeper and inside the right post.
Even behind two goals Greeneville kept fighting and turned away three more corner kicks over the final 12 minutes.
The Lady Devils final shot attempt came in the closing seconds from Angelyn Diaz, but Liberty Creek keeper Addie Taylor grabbed it.
Liberty Creek moves on to the state semifinals where it will meet District 9-AA rival Station Camp on Wednesday.
Greeneville ends the year with a 11-9-1 record.
