USJ girls soccer defeats BGA for second straight TSSAA state championship

USJ has claimed its second straight TSSAA girls soccer state championship.

The Lady Bruins defeated Battle Ground Academy 2-0 on Friday in Chattanooga in the Division II-AA soccer state championship.

It marks the second consecutive season that USJ has defeated the Lady Wildcats in the championship game. The Lady Bruins have won the two state titles by a combined 3-0 score.

"It's an incredible achievement because we're talking about a great program in BGA," USJ coach Paul Conway said. "Their coach (Jan Morrissey) is going to challenge you every second of the game with her understanding of the game. That's a great team."

In this year's final, Betha Pucek scored on an unassisted goal in the 65th minute. Pucek then assisted on the second goal, dishing it to Ava Barham for the score in the 70th minute.

"Sometimes if you watch the game you don't see Betha, but if you watch Betha, she sees the game," Conway said. "She's got an incredible soccer brain. Now you look at her and you see that end product. She's got confidence in herself and has wonderful technique.

BGA had eight shots on goal against USJ in the loss with Tennessee commitment Keaton Mitchell contributing two of those. Teammates Eva Schreiber and Catherine Schreiber also had two shots on goal.

Morgan English had four of the Lady Bruins' seven shots on goal, while teammate Lilly Kate Varino had seven saves to preserve the shutout.