Oak Ridge Today

COVID-19 emergency delays start of football, girls soccer seasons

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Blankenship-Field-James-Mitchell-Aug-2019
Blankenship Field—the city’s football field—is pictured above in August 2019. (File photo by James Mitchell via City of Oak Ridge)

The extension of the COVID-19 emergency in Tennessee has delayed the start of the high school football and girls soccer seasons.

Tennessee Governor Bill Lee has extended the COVID-19 state of emergency until August 29. A prior order by the governor includes limitations and restrictions on contact sporting events and activities.

In an update sent to member schools on Tuesday, Bernard Childress, executive director of the Tennessee Secondary School Athletic Association, said member schools cannot have any competition or scrimmage with other schools while the governor’s order is in place. The schools cannot have close contact activities during practice for football, 7-on-7 football, girls soccer, wrestling, and basketball. Football and girls soccer cannot begin their seasons as originally scheduled, Childress said.

The Oak Ridge football season opener had been scheduled for August 21.

The TSSAA Board of Control had a special meeting Wednesday and voted unanimously to require that member schools follow the governor’s executive order for sports activities.

The board discussed the effect that the extended COVID-19 state of emergency will have on contact sports in the fall. Football, girls soccer, and competitive cheer are considered contact sports.

[Read more…]

Soccer: Lady Wildcats’ season ends in region semifinal

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Pictured above from left to right are Oak Ridge Lady Wildcats soccer seniors Maddie Peters, Rachael Brewer, Katie O’Brien, and Jennie Pont Briant. (Photo courtesy Oak Ridge Lady Soccercats)

The Oak Ridge Lady Wildcats soccer team finished the 2019 season with a 3-0 loss to Maryville in a Region 2-AAA semifinal game at home on Tuesday, October 22.

It was the fifth year in a row that the Oak Ridge girls’ team has been eliminated in a regional semifinal game.

The Lady Wildcats also lost to Maryville, 8-1, in a Region 2 semifinal last year.

They were defeated by Farragut in the regional semifinal the previous two years and by Hardin Valley in 2015, according to records posted online by CoachT.com.

[Read more…]

Soccer: Lady Wildcats to play for district championship

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The Oak Ridge girls soccer team will play for a district championship against Powell tonight (Thursday, October 17).

The game will start at 7 p.m. at the Pro2Serve soccer stadium at Oak Ridge High School.

This will be the fifth year in a row that Oak Ridge and Powell have played for the District 3-AAA championship.

The top two teams in the district, the Lady Wildcats and Lady Panthers met once during the regular season, and Oak Ridge won 2-1 in overtime. It was the girls’ first victory over Powell since 2016. That’s when the Lady Wildcats last won the district championship in a 2-0 victory at Powell.

[Read more…]

Oak Ridge girls’ soccer photos

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Seniors on the Oak Ridge girls' soccer team are pictured above on Senior Night on Thursday, Sept. 28, 2017, with family members. From left they are Alex Rouse (11), Zoe Van Hook (17), and Katie Roach (6). (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

Seniors on the Oak Ridge girls’ soccer team are pictured above on Senior Night on Thursday, Sept. 28, 2017, with family members. From left they are Alex Rouse (11), Zoe Van Hook (17), and Katie Roach (6). (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

Here are photos from a few recent girls’ soccer games by John Huotari of Oak Ridge Today and Linda Ripley and Luther Simmons. See summary of recent games here. [Read more…]

Lady Wildcats finish as district runner-up, play Farragut in Region 2 semifinal Tuesday

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Oak Ridge freshman Katelyn Mattus (13) scored four goals in the 5-0 shutout win over Halls in a District 3-AAA semifinal win at the Pro2Serve Oak Ridge Soccer Complex on Tuesday, Oct. 10, 2017. (Photo by Linda Ripley)

Oak Ridge freshman Katelyn Mattus (13) scored four goals during the 5-0 shutout win over Halls in a District 3-AAA semifinal game at the Pro2Serve Oak Ridge Soccer Complex on Tuesday, Oct. 10, 2017. (Photo by Linda Ripley)

 

The Oak Ridge girls’ soccer team finished second in District 3-AAA, and the Lady Wildcats will play Farragut in a Region 2-AAA semifinal game today (Tuesday, October 17).

Today’s game is an elimination game, meaning the season is over for the loser. The winner will be guaranteed at least two more games, the Region 2-AAA championship and a Class AAA sectional game. The sectional games will determine which eight teams will play in the Class AAA state tournament.

The District 3-AAA tournament championship game was Thursday at Powell Middle School. Powell, the top seed in the district tournament, won 6-0. Oak Ridge was the number two seed.

It was the third year in a row that Oak Ridge (10-8-1, 3-1 District 3-AAA) and Powell (13-3-1, 4-0) played for the District 3-AAA championship—and the fourth time in five years. The Lady Wildcats won last year 2-0, and the Lady Panthers defeated Oak Ridge 1-0 in 2015.
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Playoffs today: Volleyball regional tournament, girls soccer district tournament

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The Oak Ridge Lady Wildcats volleyball team will play in the Region 2-AAA tournament at Oak Ridge High School on Tuesday, Oct. 10, 2017. (Photo courtesy Oak Ridge volleyball)

The Oak Ridge Lady Wildcats volleyball team will play in the Region 2-AAA tournament at Oak Ridge High School on Tuesday, Oct. 10, 2017. (Photo courtesy Oak Ridge volleyball)

 

The Oak Ridge Lady Wildcats volleyball team will play in the Region 2-AAA tournament at home today, and the girls’ soccer team will play in the District 3-AAA tournament, also at home.

The volleyball team (24-9) won the District 4-AAA championship on Tuesday, October 3. With a 6-0 district record, the girls were undefeated in District 4-AAA and the top seed in the district tournament.

Oak Ridge, the District 4 champion, will play Heritage, the District 3 runner-up, in a regional semifinal in Wildcat Arena at 5:30 p.m. today (Tuesday, October 10).

The two teams met twice during the regular season. The Lady Mountaineers won the first one 3-0 at Heritage on September 25. The Lady Wildcats won the second game 2-1 in the Courtside at Concord Tournament on September 30. [Read more…]

Soccer photos: Oak Ridge-Farragut

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Oak Ridge freshman Katelyn Mattus (13) is pictured above at Farragut on Wednesday, Sept. 13, 2017. (Photo by Luther Simmons)

Oak Ridge freshman Katelyn Mattus (13) is pictured above at Farragut on Wednesday, Sept. 13, 2017. (Photo by Luther Simmons)

 

Here are photos by Luther Simmons from the Oak Ridge girls’ soccer game at Farragut on Wednesday. [Read more…]

Girls soccer: Oak Ridge shuts out Halls in first home game

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Oak Ridge senior Zoe Van Hook (17) is pictured above during a 8-0 win over Halls at home on Thursday, Aug. 17, 2017. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

Oak Ridge senior Zoe Van Hook (17) is pictured above during an 8-0 win over Halls at home on Thursday, Aug. 17, 2017. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

The Oak Ridge girls soccer team shut out Halls 8-0 during the first home game of the regular season on Thursday.

The Lady Wildcats led 5-0 at halftime and scored three more goals in the second half.

Sophomore Maddie Peters, credited with five shots, scored first for Oak Ridge about eight minutes into the game. She fired a shot from the right side of the goal box, and it bounced in off the left upright.

About 13 minutes later, senior Zoe Van Hook passed the soccer ball across the field from right to left and freshman Katelyn Mattus kicked it into the left side of the net.

A minute later, Oak Ridge scored again when sophomore Katie O’Brien lofted a shot that bounced in off the hands of Halls goalkeeper Madison Wright. [Read more…]

Girls soccer photos: Oak Ridge vs. Catholic

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The Oak Ridge girls soccer team played at Knoxville Catholic on Tuesday, Aug. 15, 2017. (Photo by Luther Simmons)

The Oak Ridge girls soccer team played at Knoxville Catholic on Tuesday, Aug. 15, 2017. (Photo by Luther Simmons)

 

KNOXVILLE—The Oak Ridge girls soccer team opened its regular season at Knoxville Catholic on Tuesday. Here are photos by Luther Simmons.

The girls will play their first home game of the regular season at 7 p.m. today (Thursday, August 17) at the Oak Ridge High School Pro2Serve Soccer Complex. It’s also the first district game.

The girls lost to Catholic 2-1 on Tuesday. That was a non-district game. [Read more…]

See 2017 Oak Ridge girls’ soccer schedule here

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Here is the 2017 game schedule for Oak Ridge Lady Wildcats soccer:

Preseason

  1. July 29—KIL Jamboree: McMinn County (away)—10:30 a.m./Webb (away)—11:30 a.m.
  2. August 1—South Doyle (home)—7 p.m.
  3. August 3—CAK (away)—6 p.m.
  4. August 8—Alcoa (home)—7 p.m.
  5. August 10—Maryville (away)—7 p.m.

Regular Season [Read more…]

Oak Ridge plays in District 3-AAA girls’ soccer semifinal game on Tuesday

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The Oak Ridge Lady Wildcats soccer team will play in a District 3-AAA semifinal tournament game at home on Tuesday.

Oak Ridge (10-6-1, 3-1), the number two seed, will play Central (16-0-1, 6-0), the number three seed, at Oak Ridge High School at 7 p.m. Tuesday.

Central (16-0-1, 6-0) beat Gibbs 1-0 on Saturday to advance to the seminal game against Oak Ridge. Gibbs was the number six seed.

Oak Ridge and Central did not play during the regular season. [Read more…]

Soccer: Lady Wildcats fall to Bearden

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KNOXVILLE—It was not what Jeff Trombly was looking for.

The Oak Ridge girls soccer head coach spoke plainly about his team’s performance after an 0-4 loss to Bearden Thursday night, saying that he would grade it as an F.

“There was no effort,” Trombly said. “There was no connecting the passes. There was no spirit involved in the team at all. Worst game we’ve played all year.”

The Lady Wildcats traveled to Knoxville hoping to gain a late-season victory over the defending Lady Bulldogs.

Instead, Oak Ridge (10-6-1, 3-1 District 3-AAA) fell behind early in the contest, and struggled to gain any momentum. [Read more…]