chattablack

CCS-9 Livingston Academy-0

CCS-4 Cleveland-0. Cleveland came out strong, well organized, outplayed CCS first 10-15 miunutes. As game progressed, CCS settled down, possessed well, very dangerous counter attack. Senior mid Corey Wilson provided great 2nd half composure. Twice Cleveland keeper came out to edge of box to contest, possibly a bit over aggressive given location of the play on the right edge of his box, and CCS finished on rebounds to open net. 1st CCS goal was very nice back post cross/diving header.

MVM, Hudson broke his leg, same spot. 3rd break in two years. Surgery is a possibility. He was at the CCS/ND match tonight and in great spirits. Serious soccer days may be over, a disappointment for an incredible young man, team leader, and player with real collegiate potential. If he does not make it back as a player, he certainly will be a great coach.

Coniglio, CCS-5, ND-0. Most complete match CCS has played in the mid and up top. Defense a little suspect at times but keeper was top notch.

CCS-5, Notre Dame-0. Big win for CCS. Jr. Rocklin Shumaker played big tonight, with two goals, crossbar, and an assist. Three goals from outside mids. Cory Wilson was creative in the middle, really stepped up as field leader tonight.

Hard to picture any A/AA squad ahead of Franklin, Ravenwood, and a number of other top flight AAA programs. CCS has posted good wins against average to good AAA teams, but only top flight program Bearden match was a 1-0 loss. Top 10 maybe, but top 5, ahead of Franklin squad that seems to be blasting great teams? A/AA. Sked is everything. Hixson is undefeated, but has one win against good comp in the Baylor match, a Baylor squad that appears to be a bit down (6-1 loss to MBA). I know CAK, Alcoa, ND have several losses, but look at the comp. They are playing top level programs at all levels. It matters. Hixson's time will come at Districts and Regions, especially if they meet Boyd. Coniglio, if putting CCS above CAK vexes you, this may induce ulcers.

CCS/McCallie score is accurate. I posted a game summary on CCSvMcCallie post. Great match. Could have gone either way. I realize undefeated counts for something, but CCS's one loss is to Bearden, 1-0, and their 2 ties are with Dalton, 5-A powerhouse in GA, and today's match with McCallie, #1 or #2 in D-II, and they have strong wins over 3-A schools Cookeville, Science Hill, and Shelbyville. Believe Big G is dead on with respect to scheduling. Preseason matches with Baylor and PJPII have been critical to CCS's defensive success as they helped iron out problems that resulted in 4 goals in those two games. Since that time, CCS has given up just 4 goals. CCS has a very tough match against Notre Dame on Tuesday and 3-A Cleveland left on the schedule the following week. If they are ranked #1, they will have to continue to post big wins. Have heard the Hixson score is accurate. That is a big win for that program, although Baylor lost 6-1 last week to MBA. I guess I can no longer call them my dark horse. Well done Hixson. Makes their region very interesting with Boyd Buchanan, Sweetwater, and new program East Hamilton 7-1 I believe with only lost coming to CCS, not to mention upset minded East Ridge from last year.

CCS-0 McCallie-0 Great match. 1st half both teams fairly conservative, careful, feeling each other out. McCallie had one good chance on flick header over keeper that CCS centerback cleared off the line. 2nd half both teams raised intensity. CCS probably had edge for 20-25 minutes in 2nd half. Three great looks, one off crossbar and defender deflection that probably saved goal. McCallie finished well, last 10-12 minutes with flurry that included a crossbar and post, and an incredible backdiving save by CCS keeper. Key McCallie central mid Hudson Brock, recently returned after broken leg, went off with leg injury in 2nd half. Hopefully not a break again.

SH-Boyd was a very good match. SH controlled the ball, great short game, very skilled interior mids and #10 up top. Boyd counter is extremely dangerous. #2 and #7 up top are VERY good forwards. Fast, physical, and excellent finishers. SH backs got a little lax on their marking and #2 burned them with a 1v2 breakaway opposite post rip for 1-0 halftime lead. SH scored fairly early in 2nd half on direct kick rebound, found new energy, and really dominated play in the 2nd half, but nearly gave up 2nd goal with furious counter by #7. Boyd's back line is big, strong, very good in the air. Direct play, look for quick counter, move from back line to forwards very quickly. SH plays quick possession redirect, likes to move to edges and attack down the middle with numbers. Was a classic direct v possession redirect match. Finals, CCS was able to exploit the marking issues in SH back line with very good controlled counter attacks and played with a lot of pressure on the ball which disrupted SH entry pass to fwd and redirect to attacking mid, took away edge service. SH showed fatigue of earlier tough match with Boyd in 2nd half. CCS depth was key. Lots of rotation, played reserves much of semifinal win over Shelbyville and still prevailed 4-0.

Coniglio is right. Until CAK relinquishes the A/AA crown, and given the "word on the street" is CAK is playing minus three key playmakers and still posting 1-0 matches with the likes of McCallie, CAK should hold the top rank. Given CCS tourney input, believe top 4 are CAK, CCS, Kingsbury, and Notre Dame, listed alphabetically, with Alcoa, Boyd, and Hume Fogg close at hand. Hixson remains my dark horse pick. Likely sectional matches will place Notre Dame and CCS against Boyd Buchanan and Hixson if teams play to ability. Should be interesting.

CCS-4, Shelbyville-0, Science Hill-2, Boyd-1 in semis Finals CCS-3, Science Hill -0, tenacious defense, great counter switching point of attack. Consolation Boyd-3, Shelbyville-2

Boyd 4, CPA-1. Great win for Boyd. Will play a very, very good Science Hill tomorrow at 11:00 at CCS.

Livingston ran into a freight train tonight in the form of Science Hill. 9-0 with 15 minutes to play. Science Hill was incredible up the middle and big and fast in the back.

CCS Tournament Boyd-4, CPA-1. Close match, 1-1, with CPA having the edge in possession, 34 minutes 1st half. 6 minutes to go, centerback on CPA comes off and Boyd scores 2 goals for 3-1 halftime lead. CCS-11, Harpeth-0, CCS demonstrated good depth with reserves playing most of the match. Shelbyville-3, Sweetwater-2. Good, close match. Sweetwater program improving. Science Hill-9, Livingston Academy-0 with 15 to play. Science Hill very impressive. No one should overlook this club. Great interior mid play, most skilled I have seen including ND, Bearden, Baylor, and McCallie. High pressure up top-relentless. Solid in the back with a right back that is huge, skilled, fast, and loves to make runs forward. Science Hill v Boyd tomorrow at 11 am. Should be great match. Don't believe they were ranked in AAA top 20. This is an oversight.

Notre Dame and McCallie are playing in the Bearden tournament. CCS hosting tournament with CPA and Boyd on the A/AA scene. Saturday evening final will hopefully match CCS with winner of CPA/Boyd. We should have a better sense of Chattanooga soccer by Saturday evening. Baylor is playing well as evident in great showing at Cleveland tournament. ND's only loss to #2 Bearden, 3-2. CCS' only loss is to Bearden as well, 1-0, and tie is with GA powerhouse Dalton, 1-1. Hixson has done very well against average, when compared to likes of Alcoa, CAK, ND, teams in Chattanooga. Should face more challenging competition soon that will highlight where they stack up.

Fair question on Chattanooga soccer. Top programs after past 5 years have been A/AA and D-2. Look for Notre Dame, Boyd Buchanan, and CCS to emerge as top 10 teams, possibly even top 5 with CAK, possibly Alcoa despite tough tourney at Cleveland, and Kingsbury if they returned most of last year's team (great match with Cleveland at state). Hixson may also emerge as very good team. Baylor is playing very well right now and is well coached (see Cleveland tourney), and McCallie will be very good by the end of the season if key players recover from injury and the team finds its chemistry. Top senior attacking mid is back but not a 100%, still missing very dangerous right striker. They also have a number of talented 9th and 10th graders who will mature. AAA has been competitive but not at the level of Farragut/Bearden or Hendersonville/Ravenwood, as evident by success of A/AA programs against these teams. Lack of excellent club program in Chattanooga greatly affects AAA. They consistently lack the depth of the Knoxville and Nashville schools, for example.

CCS-2, East Ridge-0

Bearden-1 CCS-0. Good match, Bearden beat CCS on CCS right edge, played to back post to numbers, great finish.

Bearden-3 Notre Dame-2. Physical, direct soccer, both ways. Pretty even match. Center back for ND very dangerous on direct kicks. Bearden had 6 or 7 in wall late in match. ND tied match with quick throw to near post, flick on. Left mid finished with a great volley. Might have caught Bearden a little off balance with quick play. Bearden scored go ahead on nice back post header from about 12-15 out off of corner. Keeper screened by well positioned player. Great match.

CCS-5. Signal Mtn-0. Kudos to great effort by Signal Mtn. 1-0 at halftime. Very good keeper, hard rugged play by Signal. Big G, CCS executed great low pressure, counter attack against Dalton. Dalton outshot CCS, with most shots 30 and out. Great counter produced near post header to tie match. Team to watch in Chattanooga: Notre Dame. Dangerous forwards, big physical central defenders/midfield. Great team speed.

CCS-1 Dalton, GA-1. CCS v Bearden at CCS, Saturday, 1:00.

PJPII-3, CCS-0. Physical match. PJPII jumped on CCS in first 6 minutes, 2 goals.

CCS-2, Baylor-1 Wed afternoon. CCS v PJPII, 5 pm at PJPII.

Chattanooga A/AA, good to see Notre Dame in pre season rankings. Should emerge as a strong team, young last year. Expecting a great season at Boyd. Great senior class, very impressive two years ago when I scouted during tourney time. East Ridge will be dangerous, great morale, physical team, and Hixson has a number of skilled and dangerous players. Curious to know how they were affected by graduation. We (CCS) will hopefully continue to mature. 4 seniors led by Cory Wilson. Strong group of juniors led by mid Adam Ryan, Rocklin Shumaker, and Roy Anderson, 10 sophomores and freshmen. We played 5 freshmen in that great match with Alcoa. DII-Baylor will be better than last year, a team very diificult to score on, added some talented freshman, boarders, McCallie very dangerous up top with Arturo, sometimes overlooked right forward (Garrett) who is very good. Success in tourney may depend on return of standout senior midfielder Hudson Brock, recovering from broken leg. Missed last season due to unrelated broken leg. Superb player not on the radar.

CCS v Baylor today. CCS v Brentwood and PJPII this weekend. Certainly should have an idea where we stand leading into opener with Dalton out of North Georgia. I am the middle school coach at CCS, hope to fill in the gaps in Coniglio's absence. He came by yesterday, doing quite well at Xavier.