Merrol Hyde girls soccer falls to Signal Mountain in Class A championship

MURFREESBORO – The Merrol Hyde girls soccer team came up a couple minutes shy of claiming the school's first TSSAA team title Saturday, suffering a 1-0 Class A championship loss to Signal Mountain at Richard Siegel Soccer Complex. 

Merrol Hyde, making its first title match appearance in just its second trip to the state tournament, outshot its opponent 14-12. However, Signal Mountain’s Kennedy Ethridge was the only player on either side to find the back of the net.

She spotted the Eagles a 1-0 advantage with just over five minutes to play. The Hawks scrambled in the closing moments, but Ethridge’s unassisted 75th-minute goal proved to be the difference.

“I don’t think the stage was too big for them, and I thought we played well enough to win,” Merrol Hyde coach Jason Bentley said. “Signal Mountain played well enough to win and obviously did. They’re a great program, but I thought we had a lot of moments."

It wasn’t the finish Merrol Hyde was searching for, but it was still quite a season for the District 8-A and Region 4-A champion Lady Hawks, who managed to improve on last year’s Class A semifinal finish.

“We started setting our goals at the end of last season, and we just took it a step at a time — district, region, sectionals and then state,” Bentley added. “I thought they did a great job of that. They set their goals early and they just started checking the boxes throughout the course of the year.

“We didn’t get the result we wanted, but I’m proud of what they’ve accomplished for sure.”  

Abigail Oaks tallied three shots on goal to lead Merrol Hyde (15-2), which matched its program record for wins in a season. Signal Mountain goalkeeper Amanda Muschel finished with five saves for the Eagles (15-3-1).

Reach Michael Murphy at mfmurphy@tennessean.com, 615-259-8026, and on Twitter @Murph_TNsports.