In only its second year of existence, the Oakland Middle soccer team completed a perfect season with a 2-1 extra time victory over Stewart's Creek in the Rutherford County Middle School tournament finals Thursday at Rock Springs Middle.
"It's an awesome feeling," Oakland Middle head coach Julie Dodd said after the game. "They try to work together as one unit."
Oakland's Kayla Johnson scored the winning goal in the 64th minute after receiving a perfect cross in the box from Adele Brogli. Johnson put it in the back of the net and set off a wild celebration by her teammates and the huge number of Charger fans in attendance.
"I was doing my all, and I just put it in," Johnson said after the game.
It was a mark of revenge for Johnson, after she missed a penalty kick wide in the 34th minute. After Johnson's goal that broke the tie, both teams had several chances to score another goal, but both goalies were up to the challenge and had some huge saves.
In middle school soccer, the match is two 30-minute halves and if the score is even, the extra time consists of two 10-minute periods.
Also, darkness was starting to set in, and there are no lights at Rock Springs. But it looked like there was just enough sunlight left to complete the two extra periods.
With the win, the Chargers finished the season undefeated with a 13-0 record.
"All we did was we gave it our all," Johnson said. "I have never been on an undefeated team. We played as one team and we are like sisters."
But for the first time this season, Oakland had to come back from behind after falling 1-0 in the first half.
The Falcons scored in the 11th minute when Marianna Ford got behind the Oakland defense and launched a shot that bounced off the Charger keeper and went into the goal.
After the goal, Oakland turned up the offensive firepower, but the Falcon defense held tough by holding on to the 1-0 lead at the half.
During the break, the Oakland coaches asked players if they could come from behind since they had not been in that position all season.
They responded in the second half, and evened up the score when Emily Hamby punched one in during the 44th minute. Toward the end of the match, each team had several chances to score, but neither one could break the tie and the game went into extra time.
After the game, each team received awards for its performance in the tournament and thanked the fans in attendance.
The Chargers celebrated with the fans who were stationed behind the fence.
"I had never been on a school team before, and it means a lot to win," Johnson said. "I think we gave it 110 percent for 80 minutes."
For the Falcons, they finished the season with a 10-3 record with two of the losses coming from the Chargers. Earlier this season, Stewart's Creek fell to Oakland 5-0. Also, the other loss during the regular season was to Siegel Middle, but the Falcons got a measure of payback in the semifinals by knocking them out with a 2-1 win.
Stewart's Creek coach Ginger Adcock was pleased with the way the Falcons played in the title game.
"My girls played hard, held their composure and put their all into it," Adcock said after the loss. "I was thrilled with their performance."
The season is now over for both teams, and next week is fall break for all of the schools in the county. MP |
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