How coach Ray Dover will remember Hardin Valley soccer season after loss to Science Hill in playoffs

Ray Dover didn’t mince words.

The first-year Hardin Valley boys soccer coach told his players that Saturday’s elimination from the TSSAA playoffs should hurt when you factor the advantage to host a state sectional game against a team that lost its region final. He also reminded them of something else.

"I love y'all and I'll always be your coach," Dover said.

Hardin Valley (19-3-1) lost to Science Hill 4-2 in Class AAA. If the Hawks had won, they would have made consecutive appearances in the state tournament for the first time in program history.

Hardin Valley led 1-0 at halftime after a score by Ali Tarchane and allowed its first goal instantly in the second half as a headed ball snuck behind the team’s backline and a shot soared well above the goalkeeper.

Dover said the “freaky, weird goal” completely changed the tenor of the contest in about 20 seconds.

Although Hardin Valley recaptured the lead at 2-1 not long afterwards thanks to a corner that was headed in by David Hart, it didn’t disrupt the confidence Science Hill gained from its first score as Dover explained it put a “lot of wind in their sails.”

Dover, who previously led the program at Farragut from 2016-20, said he’ll remember his first season with Hardin Valley as leading the most cohesive group he’s ever been around in his 16th year of coaching.

“I’ve never been around a group of kids that care about each other like these guys do,” Dover said. “Not even close, I don’t think there’s a close second.”

The team’s closeness was a crucial factor in its formula to succeed, including winning the district title and knocking off Bearden 1-0, the dominant team in the Knoxville area for more than a decade, for the Region 2-AAA championship on Thursday. And to prove nothing goes as planned, Bearden (18-3-1) won at previously unbeaten Dobyns-Bennett 1-0 on Saturday to advance to the state tournament.

Dover admitted the passion and camaraderie the players possessed helped him on a personal level as his mom broke her leg in January and his father has battled an illness.

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“The boys have been a constant thing that has been good for me in my life,” Dover said. “I’m never going to forget this group because I’ve never been around a group that’s done so much for me and I hope they learn as much from as I have from them.”

Hardin Valley was 13-4-6 last season and reached the Class AAA state semifinals. Dover is looking to forward to the potential next year’s team has as it graduates only seven seniors and has a team of disappointed underclassmen who want to return to Murfreesboro.

“I felt like this was one we certainly should have won,” Dover said. “But you learn from your losses sometimes more than you do your wins and so we’ll get better and come back next year very strong.”

Toyloy Brown III is a Knox News sports reporter. Email toyloy.brown@knoxnews.com. On X, formerly Twitter, @TJ3rd_.