CSAS Soccer

CSAS brought it tonight. After a tense start and a 1-0 CSAS lead at the half, Grace tied it up at 1-1. CSAS responded with numerous chances and 2 set piece balls off the foot of Allison Gehron finding the back of the net. It's on in District 5.

CSAS at Station Camp at 7PM Central on Saturday We will be playing in the football stadium, rather than their unlighted soccer field.

Thank you. You have to love the post season. Although elimination matches are stressful, nothing matches the feeling of playing a 'put out' or 'get out' game. It's a shame that only two teams make it out of Region 3; CCS more than deserves to go to Murfreesboro. If you guys remember, the exact inverse occurred last season, with CCS knocking us out at our place in the semi. Soccer is truly the beautiful game.

How many district opponents you must play and the system for seeding the district tournament is determined by the coaches in that district. While they do have some leeway, all changes to the district by laws must receive TSSAA approval and do not take effect until the following season. Some districts have split due to the number of teams (especially in sports like volleyball and basketball) and have rules requiring a team to play all teams in its portion (north or south or east or west) and a specified number of district opponents (perhaps one or two) from the other portion. Since you only get 16 matches per season in soccer, this helps strong teams in weak districts schedule up and also permits building programs to schedule more equitable opponents. As to seeding, most districts use a point system based on play against district opponents and do not consider the overall record. This also encourages teams to schedule a more difficult season. In the event of a tie, the by laws detail the tie-breaker criteria, usually head to head first followed by goal differential and so forth.

Since I began this strand, I should probably add a post game comment. I had previously stated that McCallie is the best team in this area. After watching this match, and adding in McCallie's win over Dalton, I stand by that statement. McCallie is not much better than Baylor, but I still think that they are slightly better. In the first half, McCallie definitely created the better chances. Baylor struggled to get numbers forward and their attacks were mostly quick counters with their attackers facing 2v4 or 1v3 situations. Conversely, McCallie managed to get a lot of players in the box. While they did not finish, they did put a few balls on frame, and they also had some missed opportunities to play open players at the D. I saw no really dangerous attacks out of Baylor in the first half. I will admit that Baylor created more opportunities in the second half, so you could just about split this one. I still, however, saw McCallie get a few dangerous chances in the second half as well. I have frankly been surprised by the number of people, some of whose soccer opinions I respect, that felt that Baylor looked like the better team in that match. As an unbiased observer and fan of the game, I saw McCallie getting the better of the play, chances, and possession. Lastly, Patrick did a solid job refereeing a high-pressure match. I felt that he was consistent with his no calls. I did see one blatant handball on a Baylor attack that he missed, and I felt that he should have given a yellow to both Jesse and Zander for their antics at the end of the game. I do, however, respect his not throwing a yellow in the last minutes of a 0-0 match. I have read, and heard, several complaints about the lack of cards in this match, but I thought that it was generally a fairly clean match on both team's parts. I have definitely seen more hard-hitting Baylor v. McCallie matches in the past.

The game is listed for 6. I assume that there is either not a JV match or that it is being played prior to then. I expect that parking will be a challenge. Does anyone know a place to park other than the lot adjacent to the field?

predictions?

Perhaps I should explain. Yes, CCS "took [us] to the woodshed." My beef with their style of play is based on the following: after going up 4-1, CCS drew five yellow cards. That reflects poorly on a team's character. When you were up 5-1, one of your players, fouled one of our defenders from behind on a dead run, sending him sprawling. Now if this happens in a close game, it is a different matter, but when you play that way when you are that far up and late into the match most people would frown upon it. By the way, when your fans jeered at our sprawled out defender yelling, "Awww get up. You're faking it.", he got up and flipped off the crowd. He has been removed from the team for losing his composure. My point is this, CCS has been beating us for years, and I have no love for you. I have, however, had lots of respect, and my previous comments on this site support that claim. I have respected CCS because you have been a team that balanced aggression with quality, 'beautiful' play. I refer to the 'beautiful' game concept espoused by many in recent years. I don't like watching two teams clobber each other for eighty minutes. I don't like American rules football tactics being used on the soccer pitch. I do like watching soccer played as the beautiful game that it is. Let the footballers play football, and let the futbollers play real futbol. As to my comments about McCallie, they play an impressive game that is like unto some of the CCS teams I have seen in past years. This year's CCS team, however, seems to be trying to make up for a diminished skill level with a more brutal style of play. Results do speak for themselves. but there is also 'winning ugly' and 'winning pretty'. I remind myself at times, that the team is bigger than the player; the game is bigger than the team; and life trumps them all. You play however you see fit, but always remember that we all contribute to the creation of an ever-evolving game. I don't want to see a sort of 'ugly American' version of that game evolve. I do want to see hard-charging soccer filled with displays of skill that give you goose bumps. I know that there are plenty of fans who love to see high speed collisions, but I prefer to see a Cruyff turn followed by a double scissors and lay off to an open teammate. To each his own. Good luck to you in the post season. Lastly, I'm glad to see David up and walking. He, by the way, is an excellent example of a hard, and clean playing, soccer player.

McCallie came out with a blazing pace of attack. The guy on this strand who said McCallie is overrated must not have seen them play. They are significantly better than CCS. Although CCS might play some ugly, smash-mouth soccer and give a more skilled team like McCallie some problems, McCallie will beat them if they play this season. CSAS was missing two senior starters, and we played the first forty like a team trying not to lose. After going down 3-0, we brought the attack to McCallie in the second half. The game was basically 3-0 McCallie in the first forty and 3-1 CSAS in the second. This is not to say that CSAS dominated the second half. Their second half was nowhere near the first half whipping that McCallie dished out, but CSAS definitely had the better of the play in the final forty. If not for an ugly 4th goal by McCallie, CSAS would have stolen a tie. Going back to the quality of McCallie this year, let me say that I would take them over any team in this area if I had to win a game. I know that Baylor, a team that always plays quality soccer, might beat them, but my money is on McCallie as the most talented team in this area. Only time will tell.

Does anyone have any details on this match?

Region 3 Schedule CSAS hosts CCS on Tuesday @ 7. Notre Dame hosts Boyd Buchanan. Winners play on Thursday.

The players are coached to hit that shot. Find the slot through the crowd and hit it low and hard. It did deflect off of a Boyd player, but that is what that shot is supposed to do. You can't call a scorched, 6-inch off the ground shot 'garbage.' After goals two and three, we purposefully slowed the pace. Sorry if you see it differently, but anyone who was there saw us come out and bring it to start the second half. Both our second and third goals were beautifully set up. I was glad that Boyd brought the enthusiasm, and to their credit, they played better than I've seen them play all year. Coach Walker must give excellent pregame talks. I hope that Boyd plays with that same level of enthusiasm against Notre Dame. If we can get by CCS, perhaps we can have a district 5 only region final. CSAS will play Tuesday at 7.

I stand corrected on my call of McCallie winning by a goal. I did not think that Paden was back in the line up. Coach Weekly has done a masterful job with his team this year.

Surprisingly, Tellico Plains had some bizarre yet awesome warm up tunes. Worst warmup tape has to go to Boyd Buchanan. Sorry fellas, but I lived through both the seventies and eighties and your tape has the worst songs from both decades.

Who wins this one? I'm going with Notre Dame in a foul-laden game.

That call was "questionable." From my point of view, it looked like a no foul, 50/50 challenge. Your keeper had an awesome game, and your entire team fought like troopers. Thanks for bringing some more parity to District 5. Hopefully, you guys will bring it again next season.

Who do you think will advance to sectionals out of Region 3 A/AA?

I made this call on another strand, and I'll stick with it. I would like to add that the Webb team that I saw play against McCallie in the regular season had the best play of the three. Although that game ended in a tie. I was not surprised that Webb got the late score to tie. If they had continued play, I feel that Webb would have gotten the win. I heard that Baylor outplayed Webb, and I'm not trying to disrespect a solid McCallie team. I'm just trying to figure out what happened to the Webb team that I saw playing against McCallie and later beating Knox Catholic. Have they had some injuries?

I look for a 2-1 or even a 3-2 match with Notre Dame winning. This means that 2-3 goals will need to be scored on CCS's keeper, Gibson, but I think that the CCS back line will allow enough chances for 2 or 3 to get past him. The Wilson, Miller, Heath triad should combine for at least one if not two goals. I wish I could make it to this one; it should be an exciting match with a lot of physicality.

That is a valid point. If I can accurately recall my Boy Scout days, the protocol would be that the American flag be flown slightly higher and to the right side of the Mexican flag. If three flags are flown, the the U.S. flag is in the middle and slightly raised above the other two.

CSAS will play McMinn Central at 5:30. McMinn's coach just told me that McMinn beat Sweetwater 1-0 in overtime. He overheard that Sequoyah beat Silverdale, but that one is not yet confirmed. If this is the case, Boyd Buchanan will play Sequoyah at 7:30. Both games are at CSAS.

Does anyone know if either the referees or Baylor has reported this to TSSAA? The refs would have had to make a report for the red card and this should also bring the matter to the attention of Red Bank's administrators.

I wasn't at the match, but I still think you should wait and see what actions are taken. If Red Bank wins their first district tournament game, then we will all know if Espino is to be allowed to play. As to the flag, I don't think a player should be allowed to hang a flag in the goal netting, Mexican flag or otherwise. After our game with Red Bank, my son told me that Espino had hung a flag in the netting and moved it to the other net after halftime. It really didn't bother me, but I am a stickler for the rules regarding the playing field. In short, players should not be allowed to hang things on the goal. I made the previous comment about the flag based on the post that read as if "Mexican flags" were not to be displayed. I have no issue with players showing pride in their ethnicity. I would like to know if a game administrator was present and what actions were taken by the administrator after the incident and regarding the ball boy. Lastly, if Espino were one of my players and had kneed a downed player and used vulgar language towards a ref, I would remove him from the team. I do feel, however, that we should give Coach Knox time to sort this out.

To both this quote and others on this strand, I say, "back off and stop jumping to conclusions." You don't know what actions the Red Bank coach has taken, or will take in the future. This strand sounds like so many of our media shows with speculative 'talking heads' trying to stir up controversy. At least have the class to wait until actions are taken, or time has passed without any actions being taken, before you offer your inferences. Lastly, the Mexican flag remarks are exaggerated and out of line.

Thanks for the respect. I'm not sure that we deserve quite so high a ranking, but it's nice to be recognized. Until last year's state tournament, many seemed to overlook us.