Soccer Ads crush W. Blount; showdown with Bearden at BHS

Ray Dover couldn’t have scripted a better beginning to the District 4-AAA Boys Soccer tourney.

Not only did Dover, Farragut’s second year head coach, see his No. 3-seeded team nab an 11-1 victory over William Blount Monday night, May 8, in a quarterfinal match at Farragut Soccer Stadium. He also got to see some of his younger kids play and have a little success in the second half.

“We had five sophomores that we called up to play with us in the playoffs,” Dover said. “And tonight, some of those guys scored goals. That was big for them and it was big for us.”

A showdown with rival and No. 2 seed Bearden, defending Class AAA state champs, at BHS was set for Wednesday evening, May 10 [after deadline] in the tourney semifinals. The loser’s season ended Wednesday. The winner advances to play the West-Maryville winner in the tourney title game starting at 7 p.m., Friday, May 12.

Farragut wasted little time getting on the scoreboard against the sixth-seeded Govs, who finish the 2017 campaign with a 6-9 record.

The Admirals [13-5-1 after Monday’s win] scored on each of their first four shots and took a 1-0 lead when junior Zach Shopovick tallied in the eighth minute.

Three minutes later, Parin Bhaduri made it 2-0. He would also score FHS’s third goal.

Bhaduri scored two markers about a minute apart. Shopovick’s second marker gave the Ads a 4-0 lead in the 13th minute.

“I think this will give us some momentum going into the rest of the tournament,” Shopovick said.

Cannon Buechley extended Farragut’s advantage to 5-1 when he scored the first of his two goals in the 23rd minute.

Rivaldo Hill closed out the first-half scoring with a marker in the 25th minute.

Farragut, which outshot the Govs 17-3, saw one of its sophomores get into the scoring column. Parker Records tallied on a breakaway in the 43rd minute

Will Buechley [Cannon’s brother] gave the Ads an 8-1 lead in the 55th minute before Cannon tallied again about four minutes later. Alec Arnold, another postseason call-up, scored Farragut’s 10th goal before Eliezer Millan provided the final margin.