CLEVELAND, Tenn. — At the beginning of its first full season playing home matches at the Greater Cleveland Soccer Complex, the Cleveland High School boys’ team decided to share its new facility with seven others.
The Blue Raiders, along with Baylor and Alcoa, opened the first Cleveland Kick Off Classic soccer tournament Thursday under the stadium lights, and Cleveland came away with a 3-0 victory over Ooltewah.
The tournament’s teams, which also include McMinn County, Walker Valley, Cookeville and Ravenwood, will play 16 matches over four days, and a points system will determine the champion and runner-up after the conclusion of Sunday’s matches.
“We wanted to bring some good teams in and take advantage of this great facility,” Cleveland coach John Brose said. “We have eight teams coming in, and we have a lot of good matchups. Hopefully this will be the first of many tournaments to come.”
In a rematch of last year’s Region 3-AAA semifinal, the Blue Raiders got on the board against Ooltewah with 8:26 left in the first half when Vance Griffith sent a ball from Chris Schroll into the right corner of the net. The 1-0 lead held until Robby Marcum connected on a direct kick with 6:38 remaining in the second period, but Cleveland kept the pressure on Ooltewah keeper Ricardo Mendoza for most of the time in between.
“We thought we would be able to get through on the wings,” Brose said. “At halftime we talked about pushing some guys up, but most of our shots just weren’t on frame. We just had a hard time finishing tonight.”
The Blue Raiders, who finished with a 21-3 shot advantage, got another goal from Griffin in stoppage time. Mendoza made 13 saves as the Owls struggled to find substitutes with seven players out with injuries.
“We didn’t have many to rotate, and we got tired,” Ooltewah coach Rick Adolph said. “They’re extremely fast and strong. They’re a very good team and they can make you pay for any little mistake. As much as they were attacking, they were going to get something through.”
With eight starters back from the team that won the Region 3 title last year before advancing to the state tournament, Cleveland has high expectations for this season, which is off to a 2-0 start.
“It’s going well,” Brose said. “We still have a lot to improve on, but we’ve gotten two good victories. I think we still haven’t put a full game together, but we’ve definitely had spurts of great play.”
The loss drops the Owls to 0-2, and in addition to the injuries, Adolph’s team is having to replace the nine players who graduated from last season’s District 6 championship team.
“We’re still figuring things out,” he said. “It’s going to take a while for us to get to know each other and our positions, but it’ll come. For what we’ve got, we’re doing all right. The guys are playing hard, and their spirits are good.”
