Bearden was stunned by Brentwood, 4-1, in the Class AAA state championship on Friday, May 27, 2022, in Murfreesboro, Tenn. (Photo by Danny Parker)
MURFREESBORO – Bearden’s soccer team spent much of Friday afternoon’s Class AAA state championship match against Brentwood in a state of shock.
Not the first 15 minutes.
But most of the time afterward.
The Bulldogs couldn’t capitalize on several early chances and lost to the Bruins 4-1 at Siegel Soccer Complex.
“The first 15 minutes I was expecting us to put a goal in,” Bearden coach Ryan Radcliffe said. “I thought we came out and we were executing things we talked about pre-game, and it just didn’t seem like it was going to be our night when we had eight, nine corners there in the first 15 minutes. We had several chances bounce on the goal line.
“Soccer’s a cruel game, and I think that was a great example of it. I thought we had good chances to take the lead and really put them behind. We really looked good in the first 15 minutes and a simple error there on the first goal kind of knocked us in the face. We just had too many little mental errors there at the wrong time, and when you do that against a really good team, they make you pay, so it’s a credit to them.”
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Bearden (21-2-3) finished with 12 shots (four on goal), while Brentwood (22-2-1) had 11 shots and scored on all four of its shots on goal.
“I hope the season we had doesn’t go unnoticed,” Radcliffe said. “It’s frustrating and it’s a bad taste in your mouth and you’ll lose some sleep over it, but I’m proud of the boys and the season that we had, and we’ll see if we can get here next year.”
Bearden had given up 12 goals all season entering Friday’s match. The most goals it allowed in a match was two in a 2-2 tie against Hendersonville on April 12.
All that started to change when Brentwood’s Cooper Bailey scored on a low shot past freshman goalkeeper Logan Nelson in the 11th minute for a 1-0 lead.
It was a goal that left Bearden – and many others – in shock.
“I think everybody was,” Radcliffe said. “I felt like all the play was down on this (Bearden) end for almost 20 minutes and it was one ball that kind of beat us down there and we gave it up. The kid did very well finishing it. It kind of put us back in the saddle a little bit, and we took our foot off the gas too quickly, too early. It’s tough to fight back from that.”
A couple minutes after Bailey’s goal, Bearden junior Lucas Nordin, who set the school’s single-season record for goals in a season this spring with 38, missed an open shot from close range at keeper Thomas Fields when the ball sailed over the goal.
Brentwood’s Reid McAdams scored in the 18th minute for a 2-0 lead, and Forrest Wells booted a shot over Nelson’s head in the 27th minute for a 3-0 lead.
The Bruins had control with that lead at halftime.
Bearden had seven shots (one on goal) in the first half, while Brentwood had five shots (three on goal).
Wells scored another unassisted goal in the 42nd minute with a shot over Nelson for a 4-1 lead.
Junior Ethan Ford scored Bearden’s lone goal in the 78th minute. It was unassisted.
Nordin finished with five shots, two on goal. Ford had four shots, one on goal.
“They did a good job of taking (Nordin) out of the game and we knew they were going to game plan for him,” Radcliffe said. “We hoped he would find a way, but it just wasn’t going to happen tonight. I thought there were some chances in the first 20 minutes where we could have really put them behind and didn’t. The ball just didn’t bounce our way. That’s soccer.”
Bearden left the complex with the runner-up trophy for the second consecutive year.
The Bulldogs lost to Houston 2-1 in last year’s final.
“No, it’s not easy at all because we have a tradition,” Radcliffe said, “and I think the boys do such a good job of withholding that tradition and withholding what it means to put another state championship banner up.
“It’s not easy, but you try to see the ultimate picture and the ultimate storyline behind all of it, that we’re at a state championship in Class AAA with some of the best teams not just in the state but in the country. I think both of us were ranked in the top 10 in the country coming into this game. It’s a battle of some powerhouses, and we did a good job of getting here. I wish we could have finished it out another day.”
Bearden had 13 seniors on this year’s team.
“It’s Bearden soccer. We’ll bounce back,” Radcliffe said. “There’s plenty of talent coming back. We’ve got Lucas coming back and he’ll be a senior leader next year, and there’s a few others that got valuable minutes tonight and this week. We’ll be fine.
“We’ll rely on Lucas, but we’re going to miss the heck out of these seniors. It was a great group, but we’re going to have to rebuild. It’s going to be a new team and some fresh faces, but we expect to be here and hopefully we’ll be able to put on a little bit better performance.”