Notre Dame State Champs

[chasanooga]

As I think back to September 19th and I am driving home from Memphis (Rivals tourney) the Lady Irish have 2 win and 7 losses. The girls in my car are devastated and not much is said on the 5 hour trip home. Our next four games are against East Hamilton (ranked 8th A/AA), Chatt Christian (#6 A/AA), Baylor (ranked 3rd overall in state) and Bearden (ranked #2 in state). We easily can be 2-11 in less than a month with dreams of a run at the state championship looking bleaker by the moment. We played East Hamilton and eaked out a hard fought win 1-0 to go to 3-7. Next up is Chattanooga Christian and we battle to a 0-0 tie. Next up is Baylor who is undefeated and looks like the state champs that they are and we play our best game of the year thus far tieing them 1-1. At this point we are gaining momentum. Next up is Bearden who totally dominated the first half against us going into half time up 2-0. It was very reminiscent of last year's game when they beat us 5-1. But lo and behold are girls came out in the second half and played great! Kathryn Healy's goal to tie them at 2-2 with a minute to go felt like a win. That finishes up our regular season with a very pedestrian record of 4-7-3 going into the playoffs and I am sure no one thought we were going anywhere except the players and Coach Schermerhorn. A win vs Chattanooga Christian (1-0) in districts and wins vs Dekalb county (10-0) and Livingston Academy (1-0)and Boyd Buchanon (6-0)sets the stage for our 6th consecutive state tourny. We have a terrific record of playing great only to lose in OT or PK's or losing with a minute to go in the state finals (2009) to CAK. We draw the number 1 ranked CPA with record of 17-4-3 (we had previously played them in the Baylor tourny with CPA winning 2-1) in our first game and we score first when Michelle Spangler delivers a perfect ball to Gaby Gurrola who heads it in the back of the net. CPA ties the score 17 minutes late and CPA has the momentum. In what was the greatest display of goal keeping that I have ever witnessed Grace Courter made 13 saves of which 3 of those come under the heading of "spectactular". Grace single handedly kept the Irish in the game long enough to get us into overtime. We then do two 10 minute overtimes and by this point our girls are wearing down and CPA is dominating the field of play. We are still tied and we are going into two 5 minute golden goal (sudden death)through guts, determination and plain ol fashion hard work Blair Barker races to the end line to save a ball that looked certain to go out of bounds she draws it back and crosses the ball to Erin Freeman who was waiting in front of the net and she puts it for the game winner with 1:07 left in the second overtime! It was one of the best games I have ever witnessed and certainly one of the most exciting. Next up is Page who comes in with a record of 19-3-2. It was a miserable night with rain and wind but at the 79th minute Blair barker finds Sophie Mullin on a beautiful cross and Sophie clanks it off the right post for the 1-0 victory. We now in our second state finals vs the same team that beat us last year 2-1. We have played CAK a lot over the last 5 or 6 years and we have come up short in all except one ( I think). All of the games have been extremely competitive but the Irish always seemed to come up a little short at the end. Our girls come out very confident and look good early as we have the better opportunities to score in the first half but are not able to find the back of the net. We go into half confident (but nervous) knowing we have had the better of the play thus far. Coach Schermerhorn has been making great half time adjustments all year so I felt pretty good about our chances to pull it off. We are starting to control more of the action on the field as Sophie Mullin, Blair Barker, Kathryn Healy are putting more and more runs together. Finally with 17 minutes left on the scoreboard Kathryn Healy found a streaking Sophie Mullin who then delivered a perfect crossing pass to Lacy Mahoney who then heads the ball into the back of the net. The Irish then hold on for the win and the Lady Irish defense shut out their 6th team in their last 7 games allowing only 1 goal over the last 7 games! The back line of Michelle Spangler, Caitlyn Clifford, Ashley Henry and Liz Kidwell were magnificent in defending the Irish goal this year and along with keeper Grace Courter goals were few and far between for opposing teams.

 

Let me stray from the girls for a second and talk about Coach Jim Schermerhorn. I have had the privilige of having 2 of my daughters play for Jim over the last 6 years at Notre Dame High. My youngest is a senior so we have played our last game for the Lady Irish. We have been to the state tourny all 6 years. We have been to the finals twice and we won the State Championship this year. Like all coaches, not all parents agree with the coaches decisions over tactics, player positioning and most importantly playing time. The one thing that I'll take away from our years playing for Jim is that he is first and foremost concerned about putting people on the field who will give him the best chance of winning, period. I think this was Jim's best coaching job yet when you consider the 2 wins and 7 losses early on and then to go undefeated over the last 12 games going 9-0-3 is a phenomenal accomplishment. We have been very fortunate to have some quality players come here to play for the Lady Irish. Jim has produced the last 4 out of 6 "Player of the Year Awards" from the Chattanooga Times Free Press. There are alot a very good players in the Chattanooga area so Coach Schermerhorn's accomplishment is no coincidence.They are the following players:

 

2009 Danielle Ciabattone

2008 Kris Cambron

2006 Jamie Cooper

2004 Nikki Brannen

 

"Notre Dame girls soccer; 2010 State Champions", sounds pretty sweet.

 

The ride has been great and the friendships will last a lifetime. Jim and the girls thanks for the memories!!

 

Go Irish!!!

Edited November 8, 2010 by chasanooga

[CHAMPDDS]

Certainly will miss your very thorough game commentaries...I watch the same games as you, yet can't remember a darn thing regarding specifics...Good Luck to MC in her future plans..

 

D

[Rabble Rouser]

As I think back to September 19th and I am driving home from Memphis (Rivals tourney) the Lady Irish have 2 win and 7 losses. The girls in my car are devastated and not much is said on the 5 hour trip home. Our next four games are against East Hamilton (ranked 8th A/AA), Chatt Christian (#6 A/AA), Baylor (ranked 3rd overall in state) and Bearden (ranked #2 in state). We easily can be 2-11 in less than a month with dreams of a run at the state championship looking bleaker by the moment. We played East Hamilton and eaked out a hard fought win 1-0 to go to 3-7. Next up is Chattanooga Christian and we battle to a 0-0 tie. Next up is Baylor who is undefeated and looks like the state champs that they are and we play our best game of the year thus far tieing them 1-1. At this point we are gaining momentum. Next up is Bearden who totally dominated the first half against us going into half time up 2-0. It was very reminiscent of last year's game when they beat us 5-1. But lo and behold are girls came out in the second half and played great! Kathryn Healy's goal to tie them at 2-2 with a minute to go felt like a win. That finishes up our regular season with a very pedestrian record of 4-7-3 going into the playoffs and I am sure no one thought we were going anywhere except the players and Coach Schermerhorn. A win vs Chattanooga Christian (1-0) in districts and wins vs Dekalb county (10-0) and Livingston Academy (1-0)and Boyd Buchanon (6-0)sets the stage for our 6th consecutive state tourny. We have a terrific record of playing great only to lose in OT or PK's or losing with a minute to go in the state finals (2009) to CAK. We draw the number 1 ranked CPA with record of 17-4-3 (we had previously played them in the Baylor tourny with CPA winning 2-1) in our first game and we score first when Michelle Spangler delivers a perfect ball to Gaby Gurrola who heads it in the back of the net. CPA ties the score 17 minutes late and CPA has the momentum. In what was the greatest display of goal keeping that I have ever witnessed Grace Courter made 13 saves of which 3 of those come under the heading of "spectactular". Grace single handedly kept the Irish in the game long enough to get us into overtime. We then do two 10 minute overtimes and by this point our girls are wearing down and CPA is dominating the field of play. We are still tied and we are going into two 5 minute golden goal (sudden death)through guts, determination and plain ol fashion hard work Blair Barker races to the end line to save a ball that looked certain to go out of bounds she draws it back and crosses the ball to Erin Freeman who was waiting in front of the net and she puts it for the game winner with 1:07 left in the second overtime! It was one of the best games I have ever witnessed and certainly one of the most exciting. Next up is Page who comes in with a record of 19-3-2. It was a miserable night with rain and wind but at the 79th minute Blair barker finds Sophie Mullin on a beautiful cross and Sophie clanks it off the right post for the 1-0 victory. We now in our second state finals vs the same team that beat us last year 2-1. We have played CAK a lot over the last 5 or 6 years and we have come up short in all except one ( I think). All of the games have been extremely competitive but the Irish always seemed to come up a little short at the end. Our girls come out very confident and look good early as we have the better opportunities to score in the first half but are not able to find the back of the net. We go into half confident (but nervous) knowing we have had the better of the play thus far. Coach Schermerhorn has been making great half time adjustments all year so I felt pretty good about our chances to pull it off. We are starting to control more of the action on the field as Sophie Mullin, Blair Barker, Kathryn Healy are putting more and more runs together. Finally with 17 minutes left on the scoreboard Kathryn Healy found a streaking Sophie Mullin who then delivered a perfect crossing pass to Lacy Mahoney who then heads the ball into the back of the net. The Irish then hold on for the win and the Lady Irish defense shut out their 6th team in their last 7 games allowing only 1 goal over the last 7 games! The back line of Michelle Spangler, Caitlyn Clifford, Ashley Henry and Liz Kidwell were magnificent in defending the Irish goal this year and along with keeper Grace Courter goals were few and far between for opposing teams.

 

Let me stray from the girls for a second and talk about Coach Jim Schermerhorn. I have had the privilige of having 2 of my daughters play for Jim over the last 6 years at Notre Dame High. My youngest is a senior so we have played our last game for the Lady Irish. We have been to the state tourny all 6 years. We have been to the finals twice and we won the State Championship this year. Like all coaches, not all parents agree with the coaches decisions over tactics, player positioning and most importantly playing time. The one thing that I'll take away from our years playing for Jim is that he is first and foremost concerned about putting people on the field who will give him the best chance of winning, period. I think this was Jim's best coaching job yet when you consider the 2 wins and 7 losses early on and then to go undefeated over the last 12 games going 9-0-3 is a phenomenal accomplishment. We have been very fortunate to have some quality players come here to play for the Lady Irish. Jim has produced the last 4 out of 6 "Player of the Year Awards" from the Chattanooga Times Free Press. There are alot a very good players in the Chattanooga area so Coach Schermerhorn's accomplishment is no coincidence.They are the following players:

 

2009 Danielle Ciabattone

2008 Kris Cambron

2006 Jamie Cooper

2004 Nikki Brannen

 

"Notre Dame girls soccer; 2010 State Champions", sounds pretty sweet.

 

The ride has been great and the friendships will last a lifetime. Jim and the girls thanks for the memories!!

 

Go Irish!!!

9-0-3 since Memphis. Gave up five goals total in that stretch, one to Baylor and two to Bearden, both ties. Gave up one goal total in all tournament games.

Edited November 8, 2010 by Rabble Rouser

[carlym]

and you can't forget all of the players who made honorable mentions and best of preps teams! AND all the players who made the all state teams!