The score was tied at 1-1 and the clock was ticking down to a penalty kick shootout when the whistle blew giving Father Ryan a free kick in sudden death overtime.
The problem was the ball was spotted 54 yards away from the Montgomery Bell Academy goal line.
No problem for defender Luke Strebel.
Whether it was a shot or just an attempt to get it in front of Montgomery Bell’s goal, it doesn’t matter now. His blast bounced once through a swarm of players in front of the goal and past Big Red goalkeeper Drew Benson.
“I wasn’t even expecting it,” Strebel told the Tennessean. “I just kind of served it in, hoping my guys get a had on it like they always do, and just put it right in. I still don’t know how it happened. I’m in shock.”
So was the Big Red, who dropped their first game of the season to fall to 14-1-1. They went down to 10 players after a red card with 2:09 left in sudden death.
Montgomery Bell went ahead 1-0 lead in the 60th minute on a goal by freshman Will Emerson. Ryan’s Lowry Wilson answered nine minutes later when he got on the end of a rebound.
Father Ryan won its fifth boys state title and finished the season 13-4-3. Montgomery Bell is still looking for its first boys state soccer championship.
Deja Vu? Almost!
In 2008 Nicholas Sims’ older brother Matthew, scored the game-winner to give the St. George Gryphons their first state boys soccer championship.
Playing on the same field in Murfreesboro’s Seigel Park, Nicholas scored a first-half goal and assisted on the other to help the Gryphons beat Knoxville Webb 2-1 for their second-ever TSSAA Division III AA state title.
“To (win) it my senior year is good,” said Nicholas in a Commercial Appeal report. “(Matthew) had his year, but I needed to match it.”
St. George’s (2-6-3) reached the title match with a 2-1 overtime win over University School of Nashville.
While St. George’s went to OT, Webb survived a 9-8 penalty kicks shootout in its semifinal game.