Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today
Oak Ridge will play Halls in a district tournament semifinal game at home today (Wednesday, May 10).
The District 3-AAA soccer tournament game is scheduled to start at 7 p.m. at the Oak Ridge Soccer Complex.
Oak Ridge (11-4-2) was undefeated in District 3-AAA and was the top seed coming into the tournament, so the Wildcats had a bye until the semifinals.
The Red Devils (8-6) advanced to the semifinal by eliminating Clinton 5-0 in a first-round game on Friday and Anderson County 8-1 in a quarterfinal game on Monday.
In the other semifinal, Central, the number two seed, will play Powell, the number three seed, at Central at 7 p.m. today. Like Oak Ridge, Central also did not have to play in the district tournament until the semifinals.
Besides Clinton and Anderson County, Karns and Campbell County have also been eliminated from the district tournament.
If Oak Ridge wins today, it will host the District 3-AAA championship. The top two teams in the district advance to the Region 2-AAA tournament
Oak Ridge last played Halls during the regular season on March 23, and the Wildcats beat the Red Devils 7-1.
In its last game, Oak Ridge finished the regular season with a 4-3 loss in a close game against Farragut on Wednesday, May 3. The Wildcats took an early 1-0 lead and led 2-1 at halftime over the Admirals.
But Farragut tied the score 2-2 in the first five minutes of the second half. The Admirals took a 3-2 lead in the eighth minute of the second half, but the Wildcats tied it at 3-3 about 10 minutes later on a second-chance goal by senior forward Masa Kato.
Farragut outshot Oak Ridge by 8-0 during a 16-minute stretch in the last part of the second half, and the Admirals scored the go-ahead goal with 16:30 remaining on a soft arcing shot by Zach Shopovick from the left side of the field into the back right side of the net.
Also scoring for the Wildcats during that game were junior midfielder Casey Nigh, with an assist from senior midfielder Matthew Malagon, and senior midfielder Brent Robinson, with an assist by Kato. Nigh was patient, fending off several Farragut defenders before kicking the ball into the net from right to left. Robinson, who appeared to be screened by Farragut defenders, was able to tap the ball in over the outstretched hands of Admirals’ goalkeeper Brandon Keane as he dove to his left to try to make the save.
Four players scored for Farragut. Besides Shopovick, they were Alex Cooper, Nathan Miller, and Austin Bihlmyer, with an assist by Nathan Miller.
It was the third game in three days for the Wildcats, and Oak Ridge Coach Jeff Trombly said he thought the midfielders were depleted. The game was moved to Wednesday, May 3, from Thursday, May 4, because of the weather forecast. The Wildcats went away from their game plan, switching from possession soccer to just clearing the ball, which led to giving away possession, Trombly said.
Still, the coach said he wasn’t disappointed, and it was a learning experience.
It was the only game of the week for Farragut.
Here are a few photos from last week’s Oak Ridge-Farragut game.
Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today
Senior Night (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)
Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today
Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today
Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today
Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today
The 2017 District 3-AAA boys’ soccer tournament bracket posted by Powell High School boys’ soccer.
See more photos here.
More information will be added as it becomes available.
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