Spring Fling 2019: Grace Christian soccer wins school's first state championship

MURFREESBORO — David Defatta never thought he would lead Grace Christian Academy to these heights.

Nine years ago, Defatta, and his wife Laura, began the Franklin school's soccer team as a co-ed program.

On Friday, Grace Christian boys soccer won the school's first state championship with a 4-1 win over Gatlinburg-Pittman in the TSSAA Class A state title game.

It was the team's last game in Division I as the Lions, who are in their fourth year as a TSSAA member, will be moving to Division II. 

"If you would’ve asked me if we would be standing here today I’d tell you you were crazy," Defatta said. "I just couldn’t be more thankful to be a part of Grace Christian Academy and them letting me have a little bit of an impact on these guys’ lives.”

Defatta said when they first began the program, the school had 67 students. Over time, the school has ballooned to more than 600 and has become a K-12 school.

Against Gatlinburg-Pittman, the Lions dominated. 

Grace Christian scored three goals in the first half, one by Malachi Jones and two by Sam Barrionuevo, giving the Lions breathing room going into halftime. Shewit Worton scored GCA's fourth goal in the second half. 

The Lions should still be competitors once they move down to Division II. The Lions had just two seniors on the roster. 

“You know, we’re excited about our move to Division II," Defatta said. "We’re excited about where we’re at today. The competition is going to be tough, but we got a great group of boys over there who will fight together, so I’ll stack them up against anybody in the state.”

Reach Luis Torres at ltorres1@gannett.com and follow him on Twitter @LFTorresIII.