For the second time in seven days, one goal was enough for the Signal Mountain boys' soccer team to down Arts & Sciences.
The Eagles' first win over the Patriots last week was for the District 5-A tournament championship, but Thursday night's encounter at Boyd-Buchanan earned Signal Mountain the title of Region 3-A champion - with a bonus prize of hosting a match this weekend in the state sectional round.
"We're happy that we did what we had to do to win, but we feel fortunate," Signal Mountain coach Richard Northcutt said. "They missed a few shots over and on the crossbar and had some shots destined for the net that just happened to bounce off someone first. You need things like that to go your way in a match like this, and thankfully they did."
The theme of stellar defense was applied throughout both of Signal's and Arts & Sciences two previous matches this season in field conditions that were not ideal. But even with Thursday's match being on the new turf field at Boyd-Buchanan, the play on the pitch was no different.
CSAS created more offensive chances in the first half - including a wide-open net off a deflected save early in the game - but the difference for the Eagles' region-title win was one play on the feet of two Signal Mountain juniors.
A little more than midway through the half, the Eagles' Cadyn Huddleston corralled a lob pass in the Patriots' box. Smoothly, he took a couple of dribbles forward, juked to his right past a Patriots defender and found Max Burk in front of the goal. Burk calmly took care of business.
"I just saw Cadyn in the box and a great opportunity," Burk said later. "I called for it and he played me a peach of a ball through, and I just laid it in the corner."
The key in the second half that allowed Signal to keep the slim lead was the continual shuffling of fresh bodies onto the pitch. Every few minutes after a dead ball, a swarm of Eagles were lined up along the touch line with one objective in mind - disrupt the Patriots' chances in any way possible.
"At the end we were just throwing guys in and telling them to run like crazy," Northcutt said. "All we had to do at that point was not get scored on, so we relied on getting guys out there to sprint and not foul."
The next opponents for Signal Mountain and Arts & Sciences will be based off the result of the Merrol Hyde (Hendersonville) and RePublic (Nashville) match. The Eagles (12-6-3) will host the loser on Sunday, while the Patriots (11-6-2) will travel to the winner on either Saturday or Sunday.
Contact John Mitchell at sports@timesfreepress.com.