SoccerSwami

Greeneville would have played 3 cupcake games for the state championship if there were no private schools in A-AA??? What??? Are you kidding Coniglio? Okay, they would have played 2 easy matches, but they would have eventually faced Page. Did you notice that Page took eventual state champion Notre Dame to the final minute of their semifinal match 0-0 before the Fighting Irish scored? Page vs. Greeneville would have been a respectable public school championship. Doesn't this prove our point? If there are only 2 worthy public schools in Tennessee who would be battling for the A-AA state championship each year and 10-15 competitive private schools in A-AA (even though A-AA is 83% public, 17% private) doesn't that tell you that private schools with no school zones have a distinct advantage? Will Notre Dame be a great team next year? Sure. Great middle school soccer players all over Chattanooga see that championship and want to come play for Notre Dame. Winning attracts winners who want to play for you. Will Greeneville or Page be a great team next year? It depends on what families happen to be living in their school zone. No matter how successful these public school programs, talented players from the area can't just choose to come play for your team. They have to reside in your school zone. Distinct disadvantage. And Page's school zone is about to get cut in half by some new high school opening up in that area. If the Tennessee Titans could only draft players from Tennessee, Memphis, Vanderbilt, TSU, MTSU, exclusively colleges within the state of Tennessee, while the Dallas Cowboys were allowed to recruit players from Auburn, Oregon, Alabama, TCU, all 50 states including Tennessee, is it really fair for them to compete in the same league?

Currently in the A-AA joint classification, there are 187 public schools (their enrollment is limited to students living in each school's particular zone). There are 38 schools that are able to draw from an unlimited talent pool academically and athletically (33 private schools and 5 magnet schools). No one is surprised that the private and magnet schools dominate A-AA girls soccer among many other sports (essentially 17% of the A-AA schools have a stranglehold on the sport and the 83% that are pure zoned schools typically don't have a prayer). However, in recent years, University School of Jackson, Franklin Road Academy, and Donelson Christian Academy finally had the guts to brave Division II. Has this finally opened up the A-AA state tournament for public schools to have a shot? Notre Dame had the nerve to back out of Division II and return to A-AA. Christian Academy of Knoxville, Chattanooga Christian, and Christ Presbyterian will always desire to bully around the A-AA schools rather than stepping up to the big leagues. But looking at the state brackets, an unprecedented number of zoned public schools actually qualified. Any thoughts? Until last season, does anyone find it incredible that not one of these 187 public schools has ever won a single game at the A-AA soccer state tournament? Last season, Greeneville and Page squared off in the quarterfinals, both public schcols, so something had to give. Greeneville became the first non-magnet public school to ever win a game in the state tourney in A-AA. This season, Greeneville, McNairy Central, McMinn Central, Dyersburg, and Page all qualified for the tournament. I never thought I'd live to see 5 of the 8 spots at state represented by public schools. But was this just a fluke or is it the new trend? McNairy Central and McMinn Central failed to score and Dyersburg had one goal late in a 6-1 loss to Page. Those three publics were clearly outmatched. So Page and Greeneville advanced to face private schools Notre Dame and CAK respectively (Page joining Greeneville as the second public school to win at the state tournament). But the wins by Page and Greeneville came against other public schools so a public school has still never beaten a private school at state. Could it happen tonight? Could #2 Greeneville knock off #4 CAK? Could #5 Page upset #3 Notre Dame?

I've seen a lot of chatter about #6-ranked Page being overrated. After reviewing stats on the Tennessean website: They played #11 Spring Hill, outshot them 16-4, led 4-1 at the half (then put in JV players). They played #7 David Lipscomb, outshot them 19-2, led 3-0 at the half (then put in JV players). On Wednesday from my observations: They played #4 Greeneville, were even in shots, scoring opportunities, and time of possession, and nearly tied the game 1-1 with 9 minutes remaining. I'd say #6 is right where they belong. How could they be overrated? In my opinion, the difference was the fact that Page's 6' 1" sophomore superstar of a goalie moved out of state and an inexperienced freshman was thrown into the goal. Imagine that happening to your team. P.S. I wouldn't put much stock in those newspaper quotes. When I used to coach, my quotes were twisted around and rearranged all the time. Note to reporters: Use a tape recorder, not a notepad.

The only thing disappointing to me is the fact that people make comments about things they know little about. I see a number of ignorant comments on this thread. I don't personally know Coach Wade but I have heard great things about his sportsmanship and the reputation of the Lady Patriots. Myth #1 (spread by CHAMPDDS): Scores such as 15-0 Cornersville and 14-0 Cane Ridge are "running up the score" and "boosting stats for the star players." Response: I watched the Cane Ridge match and have received details about the Cornersville match. These teams wouldn't compete with most JV teams in Tennessee. It's nearly impossible not to score against them unless you intentionally declined wide open shots, which to me would be more embarrassing. Stat boosting? The last 10 goals scored by Page vs. Cornersville were notched by JV players, freshmen, and defenders who never get to play offense. Same thing in the Cane Ridge match. Their big star Kate Maguigan could score 10 against these teams but I hear her coach limits her to 2 or 3 per match. Stat boosting? I think not. Don't blame Page for being moved from the Nashville district (most elite A-AA district in TN) to the rural district between Williamson County and Alabama where they have no choice but to play 5 or 6 cream puffs every year. They didn't want to move. I also have it on very good authority that Page wanted to play FRA, Harpeth Hall, CPA, Father Ryan, Hendersonville, and DCA and none of those schools even responded to Coach Wade's requests for a match. Myth #2 (spread by chesshistory): Page allegedly lost to St. Cecilia. Page did not lose to St. Cecilia. Page finished 1st in their division of the Ladies Championship Tournament and couldn't wait to play powerhouse USJ in the finals. USJ refused and drove back to Jackson (talk about a lack of sportsmanship). So the tournament director asked Page if they wanted to play St. Cecilia in a shootout (or they could decline and take the 1st place trophy). Page accepted the shootout, hit the crossbar twice and tied 2-2. On the 6th PK, St. Cecilia scored and Page didn't. Not a loss, a shootout just for fun. So St. Cecilia took the 1st place trophy and Page took runner-up when they could have declined to play St. Cecilia altogether. Common opponents? St. Cecilia tied Henry County and Hume-Fogg. Page dominated both teams. Draw your own conclusion about which team is better. Myth #3 (spread by goaliefan): Page lost to Station Camp. They did, without the '08 leading scorer in the nation (fall season) Kate Maguigan and another starter missing. However, even of Page had those two players Station Camp was very impressive and likely would have won by 1 or 2. This is the only other time I have seen Page play this year. But Station Camp is AAA. Apples and oranges my friend. However goaliefan, did you notice the % symbol next to that match on Eurosport? It means pre-season. Those games don't count against a team's record. Analysis: I agree that Page is not in the same league with the Top 4 teams in the state, nor do they pretend to be. They know their place in the universe (although they were leading CPA last season 2-0 and ended up losing 3-2; Page only lost 1 starter to graduation, so maybe they are in the same league with CPA). What Page does know is that TSSAA stuck them in perhaps the weakest district in the state and that trying to get Tennessee's top teams to fill out the rest of their schedule is like pulling teeth. If you want to play them in 2010, email their coach. He'll gladly take on anyone. But don't be judgmental when you do not know all the facts. Question about regions and sub-state: I imagine Page will play Columbia Academy and Giles County (2 very good teams) in Region 6 and then host #8 Goodpasture in sub-state. So making state is likely but Page will be tested before that point. If they do qualify, they've earned the right to be in Chattanooga. But they'll have trouble with a Notre Dame or CAK (as would just about any team). Any comments about the fact that two unranked A-AA teams always advance from West Tennessee to state but several Top 10 teams from the Nashville district must be eliminated? Not everyone in Chattanooga deserves to be there and not everyone who deserves to be there is in Chattanooga. Conclusion: When you're on top, everyone wants to knock you down. Ignore the negative comments Page. Just do your thing.

I am not too familiar with Page but I hit up EurosportScoreboard for some research. I see what peterw means about Page High. They are way under the radar. I see they tied #7 DCA and had close matches with #6 CPA and a talented Hume-Fogg. In Region 6 (A-AA) the big dogs are Columbia Academy, Richland, Spring Hill and Forrest. Since DCA, CPA and Hume-Fogg played well against those teams, Page could emerge Region champs IF they're on top of their game. That would be the first 4th seed ever to do that! Then Page would face CPA or DCA again in sub-state. I suppose it could happen. But they'll have to get past the District 11 #1 seed Spring Hill.

Has anyone seen Kate Maguigan at Page High in Franklin? Holy smokes!!! Talk about a talented freshman. I watched her twice this year. She kept passing the ball to teammates unselfishly and still racked up 5 goals (all 5 were rockets to the upper and lower 90). I think she's ODP. She'll be something special; I believe she has 35 or 40 goals going into the playoffs (only 4 freshman in Tennessee history have surpassed 40).