Alcoa girls soccer wins its first state title
MURFREESBORO — For the Alcoa girls' soccer program, Saturday turned out to be much more than the one-month anniversary of the last time it allowed a goal.
Mya McKinney and Peiton Bledsoe scored goals and Riley McDonald made some crucial saves as the Lady Tornadoes claimed the program's first state title with a 2-0 victory over Signal Mountain.
Alcoa (19-3-2) had never been to the state tournament and the seniors had never been out of the district tournament. But playing in the newly formed Class A, the Lady Tornadoes outscored their eight postseason opponents 40-0.
Sydney O'Hara, one of five seniors on the team, remembers that season.
"We were good individually but as a team, we really didn't click," she said. "I think as more girls got us into the high school, it helped us because we have played with them before.
"We've definitely given soccer a name in Alcoa now, so it's not just football going to state."
Alcoa coach Shane Corley talked about the evolution of the program.
"(The seniors), their freshman year, we won four matches. We've built off of that every year, and they've led us the whole way. They've listened, they've learned, they've played and they've gained experience. They finally believed they could do it."
The key was the first half. Signal Mountain had four of the five shots, but the exception was McKinney's goal.
From there, it was up to McDonald.
We got away with a few, but she's been there for us all year. We kept a clean shot for the entire postseason and that's so hard to do," Corley said.
McDonald, a sophomore who was a ball girl in eighth grade, had four saves.
"Our defense is amazing and it's even better because they know they can trust me back there," McDonald said. "They know they can take risks and that helps them become a better defense, which helps me because I don't have to stop as many goals."