'We really came through tonight': Brentwood boys soccer wins first championship since 2012

MURFREESBORO — Heading into this year's Class 3A state tournament, all Brentwood's soccer players read online and heard was that Bearden was the heavy favorite to win the championship. 

Having beaten them by a goal in a preseason matchup and still starting the season ranked below the Bulldogs, Brentwood took all of the noise personally. 

The Bruins withstood an early barrage of shots in Friday's championship game before finally putting their stamp on the game.

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Scoring on their first three shots attempts, the Bruins cruised to a 4-1 win over Bearden to win their first state championship since 2012.

"I didn't expect a win like that but I knew deep down they had it in them," Brentwood coach and four-time state champion coach Mike Purcell said. "We've done really well against some great teams this year and gotten some unexpected results in our favor. We have a ton of respect for Bearden, particularly Lucas Nordin, and knew what we had to do to try and contain him.

"It doesn't happen very often when you see a team score on its first three shot attempts. This is the highest stage and we really came through tonight."

Bearden entered the state tournament having only allowed 11 goals for the entirety of the season with 14 shut outs. They gave up two in wins over Franklin and Oakland but were never in danger of losing either of those games. 

With 12 minutes remaining in the first half, the Bruins had scored a third of that total.

Cooper Bailey got the scoring going for the Bruins sending a shot to the right corner past the outstretched arms of Bearden's keeper. Reid McAdams added the second not even seven minutes later firing a shot to the keeper's left side.

Forrest Wells scored Brentwood's next two goals putting the Bruins ahead 3-0 with 12 minutes remaining in the half and scoring the second on a free kick that Purcell said no one in the world could have hit better three minutes into the second half. 

"The first 10 minutes we got caught on our heels but after that first shot, we were energized and ready to go scoring those next couple of goals," Wells said. "We beat them 1-0 in the preseason so we were pumped when we saw they were ranked ahead of us because we knew that wasn't true. We came out wanting it more and the fact that we won 4-1 proved we were the better team."

As the final seconds ticked off the clock and the players doused their coaches with water buckets, Brentwood's sprinted towards their fans who in turn rushed the field ready to celebrate the long-awaited championship. 

"I got a little taste of taste my freshman year when made it to the semifinals but nothing like our run this year," McAdams said. "It's been 10 years and it could be another 10 years before we're back. We're just happy to have maximized our opportunity.

"For a lot of us, we knew that this was the last game of our competitive careers and we knew that we had 80 minutes to go all out. We thought if we could do it in the first 40 it would be to our benefit."

Reach Joe Spears at jspears2@gannett.com or 731-343-4923. Follow him on Instagram and Twitter @joe_spears7.