Lady Spartans, Chattanooga bound
Knoxville — After a scoreless first half, Webb School of Knoxville’s girls soccer team had to come from behind to clinch it spot in this week’s Division II Class AA State Tournament in Chattanooga.
The match remained scoreless until the 60th minute when Father Ryan’s Chloe Edwards banged the ball past Lady Spartans’ goalkeeper Lauren Newell, giving the Lady Irish a 1-0 lead.
But, Webb would be celebrating at the end of the match as the Lady Spartans scored a pair of unanswered goals down the stretch to claim a 2-1 victory and punch their ticket to Chattanooga.
Webb, which reached the state championship match in 2024, pulled even in the 66th minute when Gideon Bradford found the back of the Lady Irish net with 14 minutes, 8 seconds remaining in the match.
Approximately five minutes later, the Lady Spartans (14-1-1) would score the eventual game-winning marker when Simone Romain took a pass from Emerson Clarke, who had two assists in the match,
With the win, the Lady Spartans advance to the state semifinals for the second consecutive year and for the second time in school history.
Webb’s semifinal match against East Region rival Chattanooga Girls Preparatory School will be played today (Wednesday) at 1:30 p.m. A win there would land the Lady Spartans in the title match on Friday.
Saturday’s match was marred by an injury to senior McKalie Ball. She would, however, return despite an injured elbow.
“It was scary,” Ball said. “But when we got scored on, I knew I had to go back in.
Her injury was eerily similar to an injury suffered by Pearce Groer last season. It was Groer’s last match as a Lady Spartan as she missed the state tournament before moving on to play for the University of Texas.
Ball returned and said she hoped to play in Chattanooga.
