Houston soccer team advances in Class AAA; Dragons fall
MURFREEESBORO — On David Wolff's 54th birthday, Collin Scott gift-wrapped a present for the Houston High soccer coach.
Scott, a senior, rifled in a sweet free kick in the 13th minute of play as the Mustangs advanced to the semifinals of the Class AAA state tournament with a hard-fought 1-0 victory over Farragut Tuesday at Spring Fling.
Houston (19-0-1 and ranked third in the nation according to USA Today) will take on Cookeville Wednesday at 7 p.m. for a spot in Friday's championship game.
"Because I'm left-footed, I can usually hit it around the wall and the keeper doesn't see it coming," said Scott, who has scored several goals from set pieces this season.
"It's really important for us to get an early goal because then it forces the other team to play the way we want to play."
Goalkeeper Padraic Gilley made some nice saves in the second half as the Adrmirals pressed forward for the equalizer. Houston has allowed just seven goals this year.
"How well we play depends on how well our defense plays," said Scott. "Our defense 100 percent saved us."
Houston's arch-rival Collierville was eliminated as Station Camp struck twice in the final 15 minutes to win, 2-1. The Dragons end the year 15-4-2, with two of the losses coming to Houston.
Justin Motroni gave Collierville a 1-0 lead in the first half and fine keeping by Kevin Hale and some errant shooting from the Bison kept it that way deep into the second half. But Riley Indermuehle struck in the 75th minute and Chase Freeman scored after a great solo run three minutes later.
Shelby County's Division II contingent takes the field Wednesday. CBHS takes on Chattanooga McCallie in 4:30 p.m. in DII-AA while ECS and St. George's square off at 4 in DII-A. Lausanne also plays at 4; the Lynx take on Knoxville Webb.
Reach John Varlas at john.varlas@commercialappeal.com or on Twitter @johnvarlas.