Pilot of seaplane was trying to land in Tennessee River before March 25 crash, FAA says

Webb soccer's championship quest ends in semifinals

Dan Fleser
Knoxville
Webb's Jacob Cook (10) battles against Lausanne's Bruno Garcia (8) during a Division II-A state semifinal soccer match Wednesday at the Richard Siegel Soccer Complex in Murfreesboro.

MURFREESBORO — Webb School and Lausanne traded celebration places on a chilly windswept Wednesday afternoon.

The Lynx convened a joyous, throaty scrum after a 2-0 victory in a Division II-A state semifinal soccer match at the Richard Siegel Soccer Complex. Lausanne's players reveled in the result, just as the Spartans had the past two seasons when the teams met. Those victories were part of Webb's march to consecutive championships.  

"They've always been a good team," Webb senior captain Jacob Cook said. "They just came out on us pretty tough both starts of each half.

"They're really good at communicating. They're physical and quick. They're a skilled team. So we have nothing to be worried about in terms of how well we played. We played hard. That's just a tough team to beat."

Webb (13-7-3) turned out to be tougher than Cook thought at the season's start. Despite returning just three starters, the Spartans returned to Spring Fling with ambitious intentions.

Looking back on it, he said, "I regret not being more confident at the beginning of the season that we could actually be here again."

Webb coach Jared Ziegler said the returning players will benefit from the entire experience, right down to the bitter end.

"There's no way around it; it hurts," Ziegler said. "You pour everything into it."

See also:

 Knoxville area's top high school athletes to be honored at red carpet gala on June 7

Spring Fling scoreboard

Two underclassmen who stood out during the season were freshman forward Braden Hicks and sophomore midfielder Cameron Fowler. Despite their relative youth, Cook described them as two of Webb's toughest players. Cook said the attribute will serve them well and boost the team's fortunes.

"Even just going in on a 50-50 challenge, if you're going in weak, you're going to lose that ball," Cook said. "At this skill level, you need to be tough or you're going to get thrown off the ball or you're going to get counter-attacked or you're going to get scored on.

"That's probably one of the biggest components of actually winning a game is going out there and being tough."

Cook's advice to the returnees is to be optimistic and confident as well. Do that and the celebration ought to take care of itself.

"They're such a skilled group," Cook said. "They definitely could do this next year."