Staff Photo by Tim Barber/Chattanooga Times Free Press - May 3, 2011 - McCallie's Angel Cruz, right, fights for possession of the ball with Chattanooga Christian's Taylor Farrar in first half action Tuesday at CCS.With about 10 minutes remaining in his team's soccer matchup against Chattanooga Christian, McCallie forward Hunter Brock shanked a wide-open shot from the right wing.
The next opportunity he got, he wasn't as unlucky.
Brock's header on a nice feed from Drake Rustand with under five minutes remaining gave the Blue Tornado a two-goal edge, and they defeated the Chargers 2-0 in a well-played game despite the soggy field conditions at CCS.
Brock also had an assist, feeding Marek Stout for a goal in the first half.
"I was really hoping to get another shot," Brock said afterward. "This is such a fun, intense battle, and both teams want to play and want to win."
Both teams had reason to celebrate. McCallie claimed bragging rights between the two rivals, but Chattanooga Christian's two-goal loss gave it the District 7-A/AA championship. The Chargers and Notre Dame tied in their regular-season matchup, and the tiebreaking criteria for who would host the district tournament came down to this nondistrict foe they had in common.
McCallie defeated Notre Dame 4-0 on April 26, so anything less than a four-goal loss would give the Chargers the title.
"I guess that part is nice for us," CCS coach Shawn Brower said.
Brower felt his Chargers (9-3-2) had the better of the attack at times but were unable to finish their close chances. That included a Taylor Black shot splendidly saved by McCallie keeper Josh Bandy.
"I felt we outplayed them in the field, but they won on the scoreboard," Brower said. "We just didn't capitalize on a couple of opportunities, and they did."