Chattanooga Christian has the Region 4-A/AA soccer championship in hand, but only after overcoming a spunky Notre Dame effort.
The Lady Chargers won 2-1 in overtime.
Notre Dame, which had previously suffered two 3-0 shutouts to CCS (most recently for the District 7 championship), played the hosts to a scoreless deadlock through the first half.
The Irish managed to force overtime with 12 seconds remaining when Anna Behlau slipped a rebound home to finish off a shot by Kelsey Barta.
"Kelsey had a great shot and our guys took off looking for a rebound. We got lucky and it came to us and we mishit it," Irish coach Jim Schermerhorn said.
"It was a huge mental mistake on many aspects, but they outfought us and deserved it," CCS coach Cal Sneller said. "Allowing them to get the ball that far to get off the shot was a mistake on our part. There were things we should have talked about previously. We made some little mistakes so we need to tweak them, but I think this is the right outcome."
Chattanooga Christian secured the region championship on a breakaway shot from Olivia Hoffman slightly more than four minutes into the first of the 10-minute extra periods.
The Lady Chargers will be at home Saturday to host Arts & Sciences, which dropped a 2-1 Region 3 final to Boyd-Buchanan. That sectional at CCS, the last step before a state tournament trip, is tentatively set for 4 p.m. Boyd-Buchanan coach Todd Ledbetter said his sectional with Notre Dame will be at 7.
CCS, which went through District 7 without a loss, scored first with a goal from Addie Henry in the 41st minute.
It was the first match either team had played in the rain, which began shortly after the match started and continued, sometimes torrentially, midway through the second half.
"I don't think we've really had any rain since April, but it didn't affect us," Schermerhorn said.
It was the first time CCS had played an overtime this year, and Notre Dame's was the first goal CCS has allowed in the postseason.
"I thought the girls responded very well and defensively we did well. I get on their case - the midfielders - because I want to hold the ball longer," Sneller said.
"I felt good about it and thought we were playing well through the whole game," Schermerhorn said, "but we made a mistake and it cost us on that second goal. It's a tough way to lose, but they're a good team."
Contact Ward Gossett at wgossett@timesfreepress.com or 423-886-4765.