The South-Doyle Cherokees met the Greeneville Greene Devils in the first round of the state tournament on Tuesday, May 19, 2026 at Richard Siegel Soccer Complex in Murfreesboro, TN. The Cherokees won the game 3-0. (Photo Tanner Walker/5SP)
MURFREESBORO – South-Doyle won a showdown between East Tennessee teams Tuesday night and advanced into the semifinals of the Class AA state soccer tournament.
The Cherokees fired 22 shots at Greeneville on their way to a 3-0 victory at the Siegel Soccer Complex.
Gatlinburg-Pittman, meanwhile, had a similar victory to South-Doyle’s, controlling the run of play in a 6-0 victory over Cheatham County in the Class A state quarterfinals.
South-Doyle and G-P play state semifinal matches Wednesday, as will Elizabethton.
Here is a look at how South-Doyle, Elizabethton and G-P advanced:
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THREE CHEROKEES SCORE
Three different South-Doyle players scored against Greeneville.
Senior wing Jude Straussfogel’s goal in the 10th minute got the Cherokees started. He took a pass from Roger Oseguera Cruz for the score.
“Roger Cruz has been great all season,” Straussfogel said. “He played me the ball out wide. I took my first touch out right, and I cut it back and I smacked it with my left foot.”
Straussfogel said his goal took some pressure off the Cherokees.
“It feels great, especially knowing this Greeneville team,” he said. “They’re a quality team, and being able to score the first goal early is a really good feeling.”
South-Doyle (19-1-2), the 2024 state champion and 2025 runner-up, will play South Gibson (17-3-2) in Wednesday’s 6:30 p.m. CT semifinals.
South Gibson, located in Medina, defeated Signal Mountain 2-1 in their quarterfinal match.
South-Doyle coach Sam Mitchell didn’t know the Cherokees’ semifinal opponent when his game finished Tuesday night. The Cherokees beat Signal Mountain 3-1 in the region tournament.
“If it’s South Gibson, I’ll have to start doing a lot of homework,” Mitchell said. “They’re not really from around where we are, so we’ll try to find whatever film we can of them and start studying.”
Straussfogel expects a tough match.
“No matter what, we’ll have to stay locked in and play our game,” he said.
Greeneville (14-7-2) was credited with two shots against South-Doyle, and Cherokees goalkeeper Kairos McClelland had one save.
“We had a lot of chances, just struggled to finish them,” Mitchell said. “Greeneville is a heck of a team. They fight, they fight. They throw their bodies in front of shots, and they did a lot of things to throw us off. Obviously, you want to finish the chances but hats off to Greeneville. They did a really good job of getting in front of us when those chances did come.”
Cameron Harp scored an unassisted goal in the 45th minute for a 2-0 lead.
Harp took a shot from about 20 yards; Greeneville goalkeeper Gannon Cogdell appeared to lose track of the ball as it went between several players and rolled past the keeper.
South-Doyle made it 3-0 in the 79th minute on a goal by Jaines Lopes Martinez. Finn Straussfogel had the assist.
Mitchell said he’s glad to get past the quarterfinals and the challenges that come with it, like traveling and being away from home.
“It’s a lot of getting past those mental things,” Mitchell said, “ so the first game, especially against a powerhouse like Greeneville, it’s a lot to overcome, so to watch the guys come out and immediately start hammering it and doing the things we wanted them to do, it’s great to see.”
HIGHLANDERS DOMINATE
Gatlinburg-Pittman was dominant in its quarterfinal match, firing 29 shots at Cheatham County and goaltenders Alexander Gibbs and Ryder Allen.
Cheatham County was not credited with a shot.
Christopher Lanza scored two goals and had an assist for the Highlanders.
G-P first-year head coach Jason Owens was an assistant coach under Zach Schrandt before taking over as head coach this year. Schrandt is G-P’s athletic director and assistant soccer coach.
“We didn’t know a whole bunch about (Cheatham County),” Owens said. “It’s really just the way we kind of focus on doing stuff. We just play our way, and if we have to adjust out of it from there, we’ll adjust out of it from there.
“But we try to dominate and control the ball, and we’ve been really humming with that recently. I think it’s showed in the last couple of games where we’ve really just controlled most of the ball through everything.”
Lanza scored G-P’s first goal in the fifth minute. It was unassisted.
He scored again in the 31st minute off an assist from Edgardo Coella Molina for a 3-0 lead.
“We’ve got a bunch of guys who are unselfish and can finish when they get the right pass,” Owens said, “and we’ve got a lot of guys who can give them the right pass, too.”
Also scoring goals for G-P were Jahime Beaton, Nahun Estrada, Molina, and Onan Cruz Moreno.
Lanza assisted Moreno’s goal. Kevin Escalante assisted Beaton’s goal.
Gibbs, Cheatham County’s starting goalkeeper, succumbed to the heat with 21:55 left in the match, leaving the game with the help of athletic trainers. He gave up all six goals before being replaced by Allen.
“We scored some goals where we could rotate (players),” Owens said. “Everybody plays in the same heat we are. We’re lucky that the way we play is a lot of (ball) control, so there’s a little bit more rest when you’re on the ball rather than having to chase it.
“But being able to rotate legs and play the way we’re able to play, I’m trying to sub guys off and can’t because we’re keeping possession of the ball. So that helps us late in the season when we get in these situations when it gets really hot.”
G-P (13-3-1) will play Madison Magnet (13-5-5) in Wednesday’s 4:30 p.m. CT semifinals. Madison Magnet beat Memphis Business 5-4 in a penalty kick shootout Tuesday night after the teams played to 2-2 draw during regulation and overtimes.
ELIZABETHTON WINS IN OT
Zack Curtis scored in the 97th minute to lift Elizabethton to its first state tournament in in boys soccer in its first-ever state tournament appearance.
Crockett County led 1-0 when it scored in the 49th minute.
Jackson Miller of Elizabethton knotted the match at 1-all on an unassisted goal with roughly 7:37 left to play.
Elizabethton (13-4-4) advanced to a 6:30 p.m. match Wednesday against Station Camp (15-6-1), which eliminated Hume Fogg (20-2-2) by a 1-0 count.