The Lady Chargers took care of business Thursday night as they beat East Hamilton 3-0 in their final regular season match of 2023.
Anytime a team with the playoff aspirations that Chattanooga Christian has goes into their last game of the regular season, there is always the question of whether or not they will be focused.
Fresh off their 1-0 loss to GPS—only their second loss of the season—and knowing that their opportunity for revenge was just around the corner with GPS being their first-round matchup in district next week, no one could blame the Chargers if they were peeking ahead just a little bit.
Add in the festivities of senior night and a recipe for disaster could’ve been in hand.
The only problem—someone forgot to tell CCS this.
The Chargers started the game with the same professionalism and focus that got them to 9-2-2. It wasn’t even five minutes into the first half when CCS opened up the scoring through the boot of Kyla Kruchinski.
The Charger’s quality on the ball was evident from the start and allowed them to dictate the flow of game and keep possession in the opposition’s half for large spells. This kept constant pressure on East Hamilton and led to the first goal.
Unable to adjust and find a foothold in the game, the Hurricanes found themselves chasing the ball from the first whistle. Star forward Diamond Stephens frequently appeared frustrated with the lack of touches her and her team were getting on the ball.
Playing in her preferred advanced central midfield role behind a sole striker, Stephens was almost a nonfactor through the first 40 minutes thanks to CCS’s disciplined marking and focus on swarming the ball. The Chargers played a three-man midfield with single six dropping behind two more progressive center mids. This allowed CCS more stability when defending and left a natural marker in front of Stephen’s in transition.
Hannah Montgomery anchored that role most of the night. In true modern #6 fashion, her combination of well positioned defense and calmness in possession made her the perfect option to run Coach Tyler Robertson’s single pivot.
This, however, was not the most valuable contribution Montgomery made to the game. That came in the 10th minute in the shape of a near-post header off a corner to stretch the Charger’s lead to two.
Now in firm control of the match—CCS continued to control possession and push forward. East Hamilton slowly grew into the game but never truly looked like a threat to score and climb its way back into the game.
CCS sealed the win with just three minutes left in the first half. After 20 plus minutes of dominance but no third goal to show for it, East Hamilton were still hanging on—if only by a thread.
CCS stayed the course, however, and their quality simply proved too much in the end. Lauren Alexander received the ball at the top of the 18. With a quick drop of her shoulder, she turned and hit a low driven shot that ricocheted into the bottom corner.
Perhaps the Chargers were a bit lucky with the ricochet, but the move was more than deserving of a goal and a microcosm of the game as a whole.
The second half played out similarly, but with CCS playing deeper and shuffling players in and out to keep its starters rested. The game drew to a close at 3-0 with the Chargers still on track heading into playoffs.
CCS (10-2-2) will face GPS in a much-anticipated rematch next week to open up district play. Robertson said his team “failed to show up” in the first contest but hopes to see a better outing next week.
East Hamilton, closing a very impressive season at 9-3-1, will look to rebound in district play as they await to find out their first-round opponent.
Game Summary:
Chattanooga Christian 3 0 – 3
East Hamilton 0 0 – 0
Goal Scorers:
CCS- Kyla Kruchinski, Hannah Montgomery, Lauren Alexander