BY DAVE LINK
Many teams celebrate like there’s no tomorrow when they reach a state tournament.
Bearden girls’ soccer doesn’t. Getting to the state tournament is the norm in recent years.
And the Lady Bulldogs are headed to another Class AAA state tournament starting Tuesday, thanks to a 6-0 victory over visiting Morristown West in a state sectional match Saturday afternoon.
Bearden (16-3-1) will make its seventh straight appearance in the state quarterfinals and its ninth in 10 years.
“It’s unbelievable,” senior holding midfielder Kennedy Lucas said. “My freshman year (2023) I got to go with my sister (Riley) and experience that with her. Now this is like kind of my thing, and I get to help with this team.”
Riley Lucas had a goal and an assist in the 2023 state championship match when Bearden beat Ravenwood 4-0.
Kennedy was a backup that year and has been in the starting lineup since her sophomore season. She will join Riley next year on the soccer team at McKendree University in Lebanon, Ill.
First, Kennedy and her Bearden teammates will go for another state title.
Bearden has won Class AAA state titles four of the past five years, finishing runner-up in 2024 to Germantown Houston aftera 4-2 penalty-kick loss.
“We’ve got a tough road ahead of us,” Bearden coach Ryan Radcliffe said, “but obviously we’re always happy to get back there, and you don’t take it lightly, especially with how strong soccer is in our area.”
Bearden will play its quarterfinal match Tuesday at Howard High in Chattanooga. Pairings were announced Saturday night after the TSSAA got final RPI for teams making the quarterfinals.
As of Saturday in the early afternoon – before many sectionals across the state were played – RPI rankings for Class AAA teams had Houston No. 1, Collierville No. 2, Franklin No. 3, Bearden No. 4, and Ravenwood No. 5.
If none of the top five teams lost sectionals, quarterfinal pairings would have Bearden playing Ravenwood in Tuesday’s quarterfinals with the winner possibly facing Houston in Wednesday’s semifinals at Howard. The championship is Friday at 4 p.m. at Finley Stadium.
“I think a couple of years ago (2023) we had the world’s hardest route when we played Houston first round and Franklin second round and made it to the championship (against Ravenwood),” Radcliffe said.
“I think the state championship is supposed to be hard. We can make (it through) a tough route. We’ll be all right.”
Bearden cruised into this year’s state tournament with the victory over Morristown West (15-4), which was outshot 39-3 in Saturday’s sectional. The Lady Bulldogs had 17 shots on goal to the Lady Trojans’ two shots on goal.
Junior forward Landree Horner scored two goals for Bearden.
Horner, a transfer from Webb School of Knoxville, has 17 goals this season.
Radcliffe said Horner blended with his team because of her highly competitive nature.
“She’s just got that different kind of edge to her where she never wants to lose,” Radcliffe said, “and when you have the mentality like that, it starts to transcend, and she holds people accountable. I think that’s the biggest thing for us in our culture and how we do things is she fit right in with the way she approaches the game.”
Bearden’s other goals were scored Saturday by freshman Avery Stevens, senior Madi Bowlin, sophomore Leighton Corum, and freshman Baylor Kohlbusch.
Lucas said the Lady Bulldogs got coached up before the sectional the way they always do.
“Nothing’s going to be handed to us,” Lucas said they were told. “We’re going to get everybody’s best shot.”
The MVP of last year’s state tournament, Bearden senior goalkeeper Sophie Keener, will watch and cheer from the sideline this time.
Keener, who suffered a knee injury in the offseason, was expected to be back this month, but has decided to continue preparing for her college career at Carson-Newman.
Bearden freshman Fallyn Baker has been in goal all season, and Keener has been at practice all season helping her.
“She’s still out here every day at practice,” Radcliffe said. “She’s talking with Fallyn every day. She’s as much a part of this team as ever, so credit to her character. She’s got a bright future ahead of her.”