Bearden takes down Farragut in girls soccer to make state tournament

Abby Mink came in confident. Ryan Radcliffe has been switching goalies throughout the season. But at halftime of Saturday’s sectional game, the Bearden coach asked Mink if she was going to win that game for the Bulldogs.

“She looked me dead in the eye and said yes,” the coach said.

And she did. Mink and the Bulldogs maintained the early 2-0 lead to win at Farragut and earn a spot in the Class AAA state soccer tournament, starting Wednesday in Murfreesboro.

Mink’s confidence was only the most obvious example of the group.

“We all came in knowing we were going to win,” she said. “There wasn’t even the possibility of losing.”

The nine seniors were a driving force behind that mentality. Mink had made it clear to Radcliffe that her senior season was special, and that was part of why he turned to her for the whole game.

“She’s a force back there, and the girls respond to her,” he said. “She got us through there.”

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That confidence, mixed with a desire for revenge for the regular-season 1-0 loss, showed early. Farragut started out strong in the first five minutes, but Bearden turned the tide and got on the board first, courtesy of Abby Brewer in the 14th minute.

Radcliffe had stressed the need to score first. Farragut was on a 16-game win streak and had trailed only once in that span; he figured a deficit could rattle them.

Brewer wanted to make an impact after spraining her ankle 10 minutes into the regular-season game against Farragut. The Bulldogs were happy to have her back, and the goal took a bit of weight off their shoulders.

They felt even better when Emily Carlevato added another off a corner seven minutes later.

“It’s a great feeling,” Mink said. “We went to this game freshman year and ended up losing in PKs. To have a senior season that ends like this on a rival’s field is pretty good.”

That last part was key. Bearden wanted to go through Farragut to get to state.

“Oh, it means so much more,” Brewer said. “Farragut is the big rival, so it means everything.”