Signal Mountain (16-7) won its second state title in as many years with a 4-1 mauling of Alcoa (14-6) in the Division I A state final on Saturday night.
Before the game kicked off, an eagle was spotted flying over the stands, which proved that it was destiny for Signal Mountain to retain its state title.
Due to the rain, the Murfreesboro Parks and Recreation staff determined that the stadium field at Richard Sigel Soccer Complex could only host one match, forcing four of the other state finals to be played at Page High School. Those four matches were played on a narrow turf football specific field, which caused width problems for some teams.
“We have played on turf a bunch,” Signal Mountain Head Coach Richard Northcutt said. “The turf really helped us - especially down the middle - we moved the ball pretty well. The narrowness probably hurt them more than it hurt us.”
Junior Camilia Mincy shook the nerves out early scoring the opening goal in the 9’ minute. A deflection fell to Mincy, who controlled the ball, took a touch around the Alcoa keeper and passed the ball into an open net to give the reigning champs a 1-0 lead.
Sophomore Virginia Whitney doubled the Eagles lead in the 28’ minute off of a free kick. Whitney’s low right footed shot flew through traffic to find the bottom left corner to give Signal Mountain a 2-0 lead at half time.
Seven minutes into the second half, Mincy set up sophomore Kara Wilson for Signal Mountain’s third goal. Wilson took Mincy’s layoff and curled a beautiful right footed shot into the top corner.
Mincy scored her second of the match as she was played through, held off the defender and calmly slotted her shot passed the Alcoa goal keeper to make it 4-0.
Alcoa had little no response to Signal Mountain’s attacks, but the Tornadoes managed to find the back of the net two minutes after Mincy scored the fourth. The Eagles zoned out and left Alcoa sophomore Abigail Sullivan open, who scored a header off of a corner kick to make it 4-1.
“A guy told me once – who had won five state championships for football – that ‘sometimes the planets have to line up,’” Coach Northcutt said. “We had people hurt all year, different people got hurt at different times. We went out three or four times and got mercy ruled, we just didn’t have our team, but still had to go out and play. Finally, when everyone was healthy, it all came together quickly and easily.”
Signal Mountain was phenomenal in the state tournament, scoring 12 goals and only conceding once in three matches. The Eagles will graduate four seniors – Kennedy Ethridge, Stayton Sanders, Isabel Lanuza and Lucy Calhoun – ,but will look to defend their title again next year.
Scoring Summary:
SM 2 2--4
A 0 1—1
SM 9’ Goal Camilia Mincy (unassisted)
SM 28’ Goal Virginia Whitney (unassisted)
SM 47’ Goal Kara Wilson (assisted by Camilia Mincy)
SM 55’ Goal Camilia Mincy
A 57’ Goal Abigail Sullivan (unassisted)
Stats: Shots/on target/Saves
SM 16/11/2
A 4/3/7