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Clarksville settles for runner-up in AAA

Houston’s Paola Ellis (11) heads the ball away from Clarksville’s Staci Navarro in the first half of Saturday’s game.

Houston’s Paola Ellis (11) heads the ball away from Clarksville’s Staci Navarro in the first half of Saturday’s game.

MURFREESBORO — The Houston’s girls soccer team has kept Clarksville in its thoughts ever since the Lady Wildcats beat it for the 2014 Class AAA state soccer tournament title.

On Saturday at Richard Siegel Soccer Complex, Houston got the revenge it sought, using its suffocating defense to stifle Clarksville en route to a 3-0 victory and Class AAA state title.

“We would have played anybody in this championship, and there were some deserving teams, some great ones. But we really only wanted Clarksville High,” Houston coach David Wolf said. “That’s all we’ve thought about all year. Our goal was to get back here and play them.”

Houston (22-0) dominated for long stretches. It outshot Clarksville 16-1 and had 16 corner kicks, including eight in the first half. Defensively, Houston killed every attacking run Clarksville (23-5) had.

“Houston is a great team, but their road to this game was a bit easier,” Clarksville coach Jeff Jordan said. “They have great players and they were fresh. We weren’t. Had we had the legs maybe it’s a different story.”

Houston scored late in the first half as freshman Jenna Kemp slid a shot wide to Clarksville goalie Melia Correa’s right for a 1-0 lead with less than nine minutes left in the half. Paola Ellis gave Houston a 2-0 lead with 35:08 left in the second half, drilling a shot into the far right upper corner of the net. Jillian Hildreth added an insurance goal with 28:25 left in the game.

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