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BY IVAN SANDERS
STAR SPORTS EDITOR
ivan.sanders@elizabethton.com
The Elizabethton Lady Cyclone soccer team wasn’t expected to make it where they were on Saturday as one of 16 remaining teams playing for a spot in the 2021 TSSAA soccer championship.

However, there they stood when they took the field against Knox Gibbs, a team coming into the contest with eight seniors and a perfect 19-0 record to that point of the season.

Elizabethton never wavered and took the game to the Lady Eagles from the start and after the first 40 minutes of action found themselves tied with the home team heading into the break.

The Lady Cyclones broke out front first on a free kick five minutes into the second half as Maddie O’Quinn kicked the ball into the net just outside the box.

Gibbs came back to tie it at 1-1 with 30 minutes left in the second half. The score stayed that way until the second overtime session when Gibbs put the ball into the net to make it 2-1 with six minutes left to play.

The Lady Cyclones pushed and pushed to get a tying goal but Gibbs managed to hold down the fort in the closing minutes to earn the trip to the state tournament.

“Going into the game we knew what we had to deal with,” said head coach Bill McClay. “They had eight seniors in the starting lineup.

“It was a great run. I told the girls six games in 13 days, five on the road, and five of them against a higher-seeded opponent or a district or region champ, 650 miles on the road and that’s a lot.

“We went into most matches with 15 players later in the season and to preserve the way we did was great.”

The Lady Cyclones had a lot to hang their hat on this season with a win over Tennessee High in the district to make it to the district final and then a win over Claiborne on the road to advance to the region final plus pushing an undefeated team to the brink in double overtime in sectionals should make the Lady Cyclones a team to deal with in the 2022 season.