Make it two straight for the Lady Irish of Notre Dame. Two straight district championships, two straight region championships and two straight one goal wins over arch rival Chattanooga Christian. Notre Dame scored a goal in the 72 minute to earn a 1-0 the Region 4A/AA championship on Thursday.
The two teams tied 0-0 in the regular season. The Lady Irish won the district championship last week 2-1. Both teams won their region semifinal on Tuesday pitting the two in the region championship game. With the win, Notre Dame will host Grace Academy on Saturday in a Class A/AA state sectional game. CCS will travel to McMinn Central on Saturday. Only sectional winners will advance to the state tournament which will begin on Wednesday in Murfreesboro.
The lone goal in Thursday's game less than a minute after a flurry of activity in the Notre Dame box and an eventual save by Notre Dame keeper Taylor Green. Lady Irish forward Sophie Olenchek would find the net for the game winner just seconds after the punt by Green.
The 1-0 lead would stand for the final eight minutes.
"I am really happy with the way we played tonight," Notre Dame head coach Jim Schermerhorn said after the game. "We struggled a little bit on Tuesday so this was a lot better."
Notre Dame struggled to find the net, with two shots bouncing off the cross bar.
CCS pressured hard to begin the second half and had several dangerous chances.
CCS keeper Kendra Jolly had nine saves and Taylor Green had four for Notre Dame.
MCMINN CENTRAL 3 GRACE 2 (4-3 on PKs) McMinn Central and Grace were tied at 1-1 at the end of regulation in the region 3A/AA final at McMinn Central. Grace scored first in overtime and McMinn Central answered. Neither time scored in the golden goal period and the match went to penalty kicks. McMinn Central out shot Grace 4-3 on PKs to earn the region title.