Siegel, Oakland play to scoreless draw

MURFREESBORO – Both teams battled, both teams had near-miss goals and both goalkeepers had seemingly impossible saves.

So it seemed only appropriate that the match end in a draw.

Oakland and Siegel battled to a 0-0 tie Thursday, keeping both teams undefeated in 7-AAA play.

Both Oakland and Siegel are undefeated in district play, with three ties each. Siegel (2-0-3) has a match against Riverdale remaining. Oakland (1-0-3) has two matches remaining.

This season, out of 16 district matches, six of them (37.5 percent) have ended in ties. Stewarts Creek is the only District 7-AAA team to not have a tie, with a 2-4-0 district record.

Each team had several opportunities. Both Oakland and Siegel had eight shots in the game, four shots on goal and both goalkeepers — Oakland's Jakob Hurst and Siegel's Trey Jernigan — made four saves.

"It was a hard-fought game; we just needed to capitalize on the chances we had," Oakland's Lee Sanders said.

Jernigan dove for a couple of saves. Twice he made a save, but the ball squirted out of his hands right in front of Oakland players before the Siegel defense kept the ball out of the goal.

"It was definitely stressful," Jernigan said. "It was a high-intensity match. Two heavyweights duking it out. It was a good game. It was fun."

After a slow start, both teams took turns attacking the other's defense in the first half.

"We had a lot of trouble getting our offense started tonight," Siegel coach Eric Shelton said. "Credit Oakland for playing an intense game and prohibiting us from getting that ball forward."

But the Patriots had control near the Stars' goal throughout the second half and had several opportunities that barely missed the net.

"The first half was pretty evenly contested," Oakland coach Jeff Boynton said. "They had a couple of chances; we had a couple of chances. In the second half, especially as it got later and later on, we were definitely trying to press and get a win. It just didn't fall for us."

The game got physical at times. Twice, Oakland players were given yellow cards and left the game. Both teams had free-kick opportunities near the opposing teams' goals after fouls were called.

"It's always going to be physical in these rivalry matches," Shelton said. "You hope to get through them healthy and luckily we did."

DISTRICT 7-AAA STANDINGS

Thursday's Scores

Oakland 0, Siegel 0

La Vergne 3, Blackman 1

Smyrna 2, Page 2

Riverdale 0, Lebanon 0