The soccer match that took place Tuesday night at Ooltewah High School was one most people had expected to see later in the week.

But after a shootout loss to McMinn County in last week’s district final sent Cleveland on the road for the Region 3-AAA semifinals, the Blue Raiders rebounded with a 1-0 victory that puts them in both the championship game and Saturday’s state sectionals.

“Looking at it on paper, we thought we might see (Ooltewah) in the region final, but McMinn got the job done against us last Thursday in PKs,” Cleveland coach John Brose said. “It was a must-win tonight, and this was a big win for us. We got the goal, and then we defended great in the second half.”

District 5 champion McMinn County won 2-0 Tuesday against Soddy-Daisy, and will host a rematch with Cleveland on Thursday at 3:30 in the region final. The Raiders made it there with a goal from Sias Reyneke seconds before the first-half whistle blew.

Staff Photo by Dan Henry -- Cleveland’s Sias Reyneke, right, is congratulated by teammates Adam Martin (15) and Edgar Cordero after scoring the match’s only goal in a 1-0 win over Ooltewah Tuesday.

Cleveland (16-5) had created several extremely dangerous chances in the first 40 minutes, but Ooltewah keeper Kyter Steffes got his hand up just in time to deflect a header, and a shot from the Raiders’ Wes Llosa went off the post with a little more than 10 remaining. Then in stoppage time, Edgar Cordero sent a free kick into the box, where Reyneke got a foot on it.

“I just made a far-post run like I’m supposed to do and got a deflection,” Cordero said. “I just looked at the keeper and put it in the side netting. I think it gave us the momentum going into halftime, and it carried through the rest of the game. Our team plays a lot better when we’re up. We just have more confidence.”

The Raiders needed that boost of confidence after struggling to finish their chances in the district final.

“We were very frustrated last Thursday because we had so many shots on goal and couldn’t finish,” Brose said. “Then we go through the whole first half tonight, and again have great opportunities, and again can’t finish. To get that goal did worlds for our confidence.”

In the second half, Cleveland turned to its defense to secure the win, and Brose’s players came through. Keeper Adam Gonzalez stopped a hard shot with a little more than 14 minutes remaining, but it was one of only a few chances for Ooltewah in the period.

Cleveland avenged a 1-0 regular-season loss to the Owls, who finished their season 11-5-2.

“I knew going in it would be this way,” Ooltewah coach Rick Adolph said. “It was this way last time, back and forth. We got the 1-0 win last time, and they got it this time. Unfortunately, this was the one that mattered more.”

n McMinn County 2, Soddy-Daisy 0: At Athens, the Cherokees (11-5-1) got on the board 15 minutes into the first half when John Runyan netted a throw-in from Cullen Trew with Soddy-Daisy keeper Doug Ford screened. McMinn’s second goal came when Junior Cifuentes took the ball down the right wing, drawing two defenders, and passed to a wide-open Casey Villines, who was one-on-one with the keeper. Villines scored the insurance goal with about three minutes remaining.

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