Signal Mountain soccer player Avery EngelsMURFREESBORO, Tenn. - Signal Mountain was the aggressor throughout the first half of Saturday's TSSAA Class A girls' soccer state final. Yet when the halftime break came, the Lady Eagles found themselves behind.
Alcoa has the statistics to back its claim as a great defensive team, but Signal Mountain knows it let multiple scoring chances slip by as the Lady Tornadoes came away with a 2-0 win on a soggy field at the Siegel Soccer Complex.
The matchup was between programs making their first state tournament appearances. Alcoa won four matches when its seniors were freshmen, and the program has steadily improved since.
Alcoa's first score came in the 24th minute from the left corner of the 18-yard box off the left foot of Mya McKinney, who was in a race to the ball with Signal Mountain keeper Amanda Muschel and got there a split second sooner. It was the Lady Tornadoes' only credited shot in the first half, when the Lady Eagles had four to go with six corner kicks to Alcoa's none.
"I thought we had most of the good stuff," Signal Mountain coach Richard Northcutt said of the first half. "We had the ball most of the time. We created a lot of possibilities. We had the ball in front of the goal. Several times we were just a couple of inches away with the ball being on the ground. If just one of those goes in, it could be a different result."
Alcoa (19-3-2) seemed to pick up more confidence in the second half, particularly after getting a goal from Peiton Bledsoe less than six minutes into the period. The Lady Eagles had a 6-2 advantage on shots after halftime and a 2-1 edge in corner kicks.
"I thought it was anybody's match," said coach Shane Corley, whose Lady Tornadoes didn't allow a goal in eight postseason matches. "They were so much better than we'd seen. They played with so much speed and explosiveness. Let's face it. We were lucky to be where we were at halftime. When it came down to it, I challenged our kids at halftime. I told them one goal wasn't going to be enough. They came out and took control from there."
Signal Mountain standout Avery Engels broke her collarbone and missed about a month and a half of the season. She returned in time for the postseason and provided a spark. That lasted throughout a state tournament in which the Lady Eagles (11-6-1) played 110 minutes plus penalty kicks in their quarterfinal and another 100 minutes in their semifinal.
"We had so many people hurt all season that sometimes the losses we had that were close were like a victory," Northcutt said. "There were times we showed up with 13 people. Some of the freshmen that didn't get in today had to play against some decent teams.
"For us, it would've been easy to be negative when we were not doing well, but they always had cheerful attitudes. They always took time to listen. They were always learning. That's something to be proud about."
Contact Kelley Smiddie at ksmiddie@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6653. Follow him on Twitter @KelleySmiddie.