As David Poss met with his heartbroken Arts & Sciences girls' soccer team after Wednesday's shootout loss to Westview in a TSSAA Class A state quarterfinal, he made sure the Lady Patriots left the field at GPS with their heads held high.
"I told the girls there is no one in CSAS history who can say they have been to the state tournament three times as a soccer team," said Poss, who has been coaching at the school since 2010. "They certainly have built a foundation and left a remarkable legacy. This really was a unified group off the field as much as it was on the field. They were bought into not our program, but soccer as a whole."
The Lady Patriots lost 6-5 on penalty kicks after the match ended both regulation play and the two 10-minute periods for overtime tied at 2. Those 100 midday minutes that set up the shootout were tightly played, with CSAS finishing with a 15-14 advantage in total shots.
CSAS senior Zeva Phillips, a set-piece extraordinaire, was remarkable one final time for the Lady Patriots (12-10-3) as her powerful right foot provided a pair of goals that nearly lifted them to Thursday's semifinals. The Lady Patriots held a 2-1 lead from the 57th minute until the 75th, when freshman Ashlee Brent's second goal brought Westview (17-1) even.
Phillips' free kick from the left sideline from in front of the corner arc curled into the back right of the net for the game's first equalizer in the 45th minute. Just 12 minutes later, Phillips drilled a 45-yard free kick from straight on that sailed over the keeper's outstretched hands and into the goal for a 2-1 lead.
"Scoring from that distance, Zeva should be trying out for field-goal positions (in football)," Poss said. "She has scored from that distance over and over and over in her time here. I was proud of how she and our girls played and tied 2-2 with a team after 100 minutes of soccer."
CSAS looked bound and determined to build a multigoal lead, but three shots in a minute's span in the 65th from the senior star tandem of Ella Hurst and Cheyenne Frye narrowly missed.
"Cheyenne scored over 40 goals this year and has over 100 for her career at CSAS," Poss said. "She had close to 10 alone off corner kicks this year. She is as tough as it gets.
"Our team was tough. The region semifinals was the first time we had all 11 starters back from injury this season. We had to battle through injuries a lot this year. Even Ella was playing through a lot of pain today. These girls gave it all they had and played a really good game that just didn't break our way."
In the second period of overtime, Hurst nearly scored in the 94th minute, but her left-footed shot was deflected out of bounds by the diving keeper.
In the shootout, Anna Chen, Hurst, Frye, Phillips and Stella Murray converted penalty kicks for CSAS, and Westview also went 5-for-5, forcing another attempt for each team. CSAS missed its sixth attempt, though, and Westview won by following with Harper Jones making her chance for the 6-5 edge.
Westview moves on to play Merrol Hyde, a 3-0 winner over Madison Magnet, at 4 p.m. Thursday at GPS.
Chattanooga is hosting the TSSAA state tournaments for the second year in a row, with the three public school classifications playing quarterfinals Wednesday and the two private school classes set to join in with semifinals Thursday.
In Division II-A, Silverdale Baptist Academy (18-2) faces St. George's (12-4-1) at Baylor School. In Division II-AAA, Baylor (14-1-1) faces Hutchison (10-4-2) at GPS. Both of those semifinals involving Chattanooga teams are at 1:30 p.m.
Class AA
Signal Mountain 4, Hume-Fogg 3: Signal Mountain sophomore Adi Regrutto scored what proved to be the winning goal in the 70th minute for the Lady Eagles (14-6-1), who will play Greeneville (15-7) at 4 p.m. Thursday at Baylor.
After facing a 3-1 deficit in the 53rd minute, the Lady Eagles pulled within one on Regrutto's assist of Emmaline Brady Shoup in the 56th. Two minutes later, Mae Britt headed in the equalizer on an assist by Ava Duffey.
Signal Mountain's Caroline Usery scored the game's first goal in the 12th minute and finished with six shots against Hume-Fogg (15-3-2).
Meanwhile, Greeneville scored the first eight goals of its 8-2 win Wednesday against Dyersburg.
Class AAA
Franklin 3, Walker Valley 0: The Lady Mustangs (16-4-1) were led by keeper Madison Bischoff, who had eight saves while going up against 32 shots and 11 on goal in the defeat at Chattanooga Christian School.
Franklin (14-1-1) next plays Bearden (20-0-1), a 2-1 winner against Houston, at 6:30 p.m. Thursday at CCS.
Contact Patrick MacCoon at pmaccoon@timesfreepress.com.