After his team scored twice in the first 15 minutes of Sunday’s Class A/AA state sectional game, Boyd-Buchanan soccer coach Jason Owens yelled to his players that he wanted one more goal.

It was a good thing the Buccaneers listened.

Owens’ team found the net three times while dominating the first half, but Boyd-Buchanan had to fend off a furious attack from visiting Merrol Hyde in the second period to earn their 3-2 win and the program’s first trip to the state tournament since 1998.

“I told them I wanted three goals before (halftime),” Owens said. “And in the locker room, they were joking around about how they got that for me. I tried to rein them back in and say we’ve got 40 more minutes and they’ve got 10 seniors on their team.

“Those 10 seniors came out ready to fight, and we were not ready for it at all. We just got cocky.”

The Region 3 champions got on the board eight minutes in on a shot from Taylor Shull, and scored again six minutes later when Joey Glisson sent a ball into the far corner of the net. Boyd-Buchanan kept up its pressure and had several more opportunities, including a shot from Glisson with 15:47 remaining that Alex Kuhne finished to make it a 3-0 game.

“I think we came out great for the first half,” Glisson said. “We were passing well and making good runs. In the second half, we kind of got overconfident, and they came out strong and really surprised us.”

Merrol Hyde, the Region 4-A/AA runner-up, scored three minutes into the second period on a shot that bounced off the far post and into the goal. Less than three minutes later, the Hawks stunned the Bucs by heading a corner kick into the side of the net.

“I think it was kind of an eye-opener,” Glisson said. “We came out of the half at 3-0, and ready to coast through. They put those in, and we just weren’t ready for it. That reminded us that we still had a whole 40 minutes left to play.”

The two scores added drama to the remainder of the second half, which included two saves from Boyd-Buchanan keeper Jake Lockert on Merrol Hyde headers and another Hawks shot that went just wide of the net. Toward the 20-minute mark, the Bucs regained some of the momentum they had built in the first half, and Blake Griffith and Glisson both had chances to extend the lead in the final five minutes.

“After the second one, things started to settle down a little bit,” Owens said. “We started possessing the ball and denying them opportunities like we should have the whole time. But they didn’t give up. It went right down to the wire, and that’s impressive. A lot of teams would have rolled over at 3-0.”

Boyd-Buchanan (15-2-2) advances to play in the Class A/AA state quarterfinals against Madison Academic Magnet School on Wednesday at 5 p.m. Eastern at the Richard Siegel Soccer Complex in Murfreesboro. Owens, who took over coaching duties this season from the Bucs’ Dustin Walker, said his young team’s confidence has been growing throughout its postseason run.

“These guys are dedicated to this team,” he said. “Now they’re believing, and they know how good they are.”