Page girls soccer repeats as TSSAA state champions with 3-0 win over Central Magnet
To say that the Page and Central Magnet girls soccer teams are familiar with one another would be a massive understatement.
The teams met four times last season with Page winning three of those four games including the Class AA championship game. Prior to Saturday's championship match, the Lady Patriots had also won all three of this year's games, but had only won by a goal in each contest.
Page won the fourth meeting 3-0 in Saturday's Class AA state championship game in Chattanooga to cap off an undefeated season and repeat as champions.
"They're just teenage girls but I coached them hard this year because I knew their potential," Page coach Nate Clapp said. "For them to know that I'm proud of them and to deal with me pushing them hard even if they were undefeated, it just shows their maturity and their ability on and off of the field to deal with life. Going undefeated jus shows just how spectacular they are as young women."
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While their other games came down to shootouts or last-minute goals, it didn't take long for Page (23-0-2) to find the back of the net in the championship when Reagan Vaughn gave the Lady Patriots a 1-0 lead 13 minutes into the game.
It was dominant opening 40 minutes for the Lady Patriots as they outshot Central Magnet 8-1 and never let the Lady Tigers mount a serious attack. Page would go on to outshoot Central Magnet 17-2 for the game.
The second half played out much in the same way.
Page controlled the tempo and maintained possession for much of the second half not allowing the Lady Tigers (18-7) to mount any serious threats outside of two counter attacks early in the half.
With around 12 minutes remaining, the Lady Patriots were awarded a free kick just outside of the 18. The Lady Patriots made the most of this opportunity as Katie Nelson's kick connected with Margaret Brzica's head and into the back of the net.
Gracie Segundo put a cap on the win, scoring the final goal with 3:21 remaining.
Page finished the season with 20 consecutive wins and the Lady Patriots outscored their opponents 102-10. They posted shutouts 16 times including in two of their three state tournament games.
"We love explosive offense, but we drill in them from the first day of practice that disciplined defending wins championship," Clapp said. "They embraced it. Our outside back scored goals for us but also defended so well at the same time. That disciplined defending out of our girls all season was just spectacular to watch."
Reach Joe Spears at jspears2@gannett.com. Follow him on Instagram, TikTok and Twitter @joe_spears7.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: TSSAA soccer: Page beats Central Magnet 3-0 for Class AA girls title
