The Greeneville Greene Devils took on the Martin Luther King Royals in a TSSAA Class AA state tournament semifinal at Richard Siegel Soccer Complex on Wednesday, May 24, 2023, in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. Greeneville won 2-0. (Photo by Danny Parker)
BY DAVE LINK
MURFREESBORO – Get ready for a rematch.
Greeneville advanced to the Class AA state soccer championship Wednesday night with a 2-0 victory over Martin Luther King of Memphis at Siegel Soccer Complex.
The Greene Devils (20-1-4) will face a familiar opponent in Valor College Prep of Nashville in Friday’s 4 p.m. CT title match.
Valor Prep (16-4-3) posted a 5-1 victory over Halls (19-4) in Wednesday night’s other semifinal.
The Wildcats beat Greeneville 1-0 in last year’s state semifinals before losing to Page 1-0 in the championship.
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“We’ll go back and focus on Valor and look at what they do and how they like to attack,” Greeneville coach Jerry Graham said. “We’ve got a day to rest, recover a little bit and put together a game plan for Valor. We’ll see what we can do on Friday.”
Greeneville has made 12 state appearances and reached the title match three times, winning three consecutive championships from 2017-19.
The Greene Devils overcame a pesky MLK that had 14 shots to their eight.
Greeneville goalkeeper Tanner Myers had six saves, posting the shutout.
“All in all, it was a quality effort,” Graham said. “Back line, strong in the air, sending those balls back, and again, keeping that scoreline zero.”
Spencer Robinson gave Greeneville a 1-0 lead in the 43rd minute, scoring off an assist from Drew Shelton.
“The growth that (Robinson’s) made this year has been outstanding, and it’s all over the field,” Graham said. “For him to get that goal and make that run and finish it on this big stage is impressive.”
Greeneville had five shots in the first half to MLK’s four.
The Rams outshot Greeneville 10-3 in the second half.
Drew Shelton put the Greene Devils up 2-0 in the 76th minute when he scored off Brady Quillen’s assist.
“What work (Quillen) did to get that ball and slot it across there and let Drew go ahead and place it and finish off the match,” Graham said.
HALLS’ HISTORIC RUN ENDS
The Halls Red Devils made a run to the state semifinals this year. (Photo by Danny Parker)
Halls made history this week. Twice.
The Red Devils made the first appearance at the state tournament in program history, then won their first game Tuesday night with a 2-0 victory over Crockett County.
“We made history no matter what this game says,” Halls coach Eldon English said. “We were better than what we had been all season. A few errors doesn’t dictate our season. These guys fought as hard as any team I’ve ever coached. They were fantastic all season. They worked really hard all year long to get to this point.”
Halls stunned Valor Prep in the first minute when Chase Burnett scored an unassisted goal.
“We got it on a quick steal and through ball,” English said. “That was very encouraging to start the game.”
Halls, however, fell behind 2-1 at halftime.
Davis Garrett tied the match at 1-all with a goal in the 20th minute, and Rodriguez Jimenez scored in the 39th minute for a 2-1 lead.
Valor had 11 shots at halftime to Halls’ four shots.
The Wildcats came out firing after halftime, scoring three goals in four minutes.
Brandon Padilla made it 3-1 in the 41st minute, and Jimenez scored in the 42nd and 44th minutes.
Suddenly, Valor led 5-1.
“(Valor) is a fantastic team,” English said. “They play really well. They have great set pieces. We had probably what was the worst eight minutes in all of soccer at the beginning of the second half and that was the big difference.”
Valor outshot Halls 14-0 in the second half.
English said the loss doesn’t detract what the Red Devils accomplished this year.
“They made history,” English said. “They’ve done something nobody else has ever done (at Halls) and that’s not enough for them or us, but I guess it will have to do.”