South-Doyle advances to state soccer tournament for first time

Two games of penalty kicks and South-Doyle is heading to its first state soccer tournament.

The Cherokees beat visiting Sevier County 3-2 in the Class AA sectional game on Saturday night.

The Cherokees previously knocked off Catholic on Thursday in the region final. In that game, both teams failed to score and forced penalty kicks. Goalkeeper Boone Bratton stopped all four shots in that game.

"It gave me a lot of confidence. Our goalie stepped up and made a lot of saves on Thursday, so I knew he was confident in his abilities and I thought he proved it tonight," South-Doyle coach Adam Massie said. 

"We've talked about PKs, and I told them going in to it, there's no team I trust more to make the goals than them," he continued.

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Massie also trusted Bratton, who once again was outstanding.

"It just feels great. I stepped up for my team when it really mattered and gave it my all, and everything worked out," Bratton said.

Two games that ended in penalty kicks would add pressure to any team, but the Cherokees figure the pressure isn't actually on them.

"It's awesome, being underdogs. It's the best pressure on you because we can just play our game without getting all the pressure that you have to win. I think we proved it tonight that we are a team to be reckoned with," said South-Doyle's Theo Qvist, who scored in regulation and also added a goal during penalty kicks against Sevier County.

South-Doyle (15-4-3) advanced to the state tournament in soccer for the first time in school history and will begin play at 7:30 p.m. ET Tuesday against Loudon (13-7) in Murfreesboro. 

"Soccer has never done it before, so I'm excited to see what it is like; a little terrified, but really excited," Massie said.