The Gatlinburg-Pittman Highlander won the 2024 Class A State Soccer Championship with a 2-1 win over CSAS on Friday, May 24, 2024 in Murfreesboro, Tenn. (Photo by Tanner Walker).
BY JESSE SMITHEY
MURFREESBORO — Gatlinburg-Pittman soccer coach Zach Schrandt never held back his sentiments about the quality level of his team this spring.
He’d tell you: it’s the best he’s fielded in his time as head coach of the Highlanders.
Well, now he has a championship with that roster to further his take.
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Gatlinburg-Pittman scored two goals in the second half of Friday’s Class A State Championship at Richard Siegel Soccer Complex to knock off Chattanooga School for Arts & Sciences (CSAS), 2-1.
Gatlinburg-Pittman boys soccer (18-3-2) made its self a mainstay in the TSSAA state tournament field beginning in 2018. The Highlanders won their first state championship that season and then finished runner-up in 2019. After Covid-19 wiped the entire spring sports seasons in 2020, the Highlanders soccer team returned to the state finals in 2021, dropping a heartbreaker to Austin-East.
G-P got state title No. 2, though, the following season in 2022.
This season, the Highlanders made amends for their 2023 state semifinal loss by reaching another championship round. Schrandt actually stepped down as coach after the 2023 season but decided to stay at the helm roughly a month later.
His decision paid off, and G-P got its third state title in program history.
“There’s been five state-championship chances in the last six seasons,” Schrandt said. “To win three of them, I told the boys, it’s their legacy — and they’ve built a powerhouse program.
“That’s what it is and it’s well-respected. I’m just so proud of them, because that was a lot of grit down the stretch, defending and clearing balls.”
Like the two matches played beforehand, G-P and CSAS played a tight contest, reaching the half Friday knotted at 0-0.
That changed early in the second half, when the Highlanders took a 1-nil lead on a penalty kick scored by Eli Colbert in the 42nd minute.
Roughly 12 minutes later, Brandon Ramirez made G-P’s lead 2-nil on a penalty kick.
CSAS (19-3-3) made it interesting with a goal in the 60th minute, but Schrandt’s top squad kept them scoreless the rest of the match.
Highlanders keeper Jeffry Valladares played well and made four saves, especially a big one in the second half (67th minute) to preserve the one-goal lead.
“It’s unbelievable,” Ramirez said of the title. “The amount of ups and downs we’ve had was unbelievable. … We just had a heck of a season. I want to thank my coaches for allowing me to be here. Everyone.
“It’s just an amazing feeling.”
SPRING FLING PHOTOS powered by KOC — 2024 State Soccer Championships (Class AAA, Class AA, Class A)