Webb soccer entertains alums with return to state tournament

Dan Fleser
Knoxville
Webb coach Jared Ziegler and the Spartans are returning to Murfreesboro for a shot as a third consecutive Division II-A state soccer championship after Saturday's 3-1 sub-state victory over Harding Academy.

The Webb School soccer alumni gathered Saturday afternoon in a manner similar to the way they once played.

Several members of last season's Division II-A state championship team sat close together on a sloped bank near a corner of the field. They dished out encouragement and good-natured ribbing in a timely fashion and in choral unison during the Spartans' sub-state match against Harding Academy.

Their presence underscored how much change has occurred in the span of one season. Webb's 3-1 victory, on the other hand, fit a prevailing narrative. The result pointed the current Spartans (13-6-3) back to Murfreesboro for a chance at the program's third consecutive state championship.

"When you lose that many guys, basically our starting roster, I wasn't sure how long it would take us to jell and connect with one another." Webb coach Jared Ziegler said. 

While Saturday's victory affirmed the process, it also reflected some of the difficulty involved.

For example, midfielder Connor Catlett, who scored the Spartans' first goal, missed a large chunk of the season with a severe ankle injury. He wears a brace on his right ankle. The goal, the result of an opportunistic play amid a thicket of players in front of Harding's net, was his first of the season.

"It was just a big scrum in there and I poked my foot in," he said. "It was going pretty slow. I don't even know how it got past the keeper."

Webb's other two goals were the product of free kicks by forward Jacob Cook. He's one of three returning starters and scored both goals in extra time of last year's 2-0 championship victory over Evangelical Christian.

Cook scored on his first kick late in the first half, breaking a 1-1 tie by finding a crack in Harding's wall of defenders. The second was a thunderous volley in the second half, which yielded a rebound that teammate Braden Hicks buried.

The trip to Murfreesboro will afford Webb the chance to get back defender Will Miller, who's been recovering from a broken collarbone. Perhaps the alums will reconvene there as well and have something more to cheer about.  

"The complexion of this team is totally different," Catlett said. "But I think we have a shot at state."