May 15, 2008

Oak Ridge (WVLT) -- No emotional letdown here.

After disposing of defending state champion Farragut in the region semifinals, the West Rebels rode into Oak Ridge and rolled to the region title, topping the Wildcats 2-0 in a sloppy but relatively one-sided contest.

The rain-soaked match yielded no first-half goals, but did see 11 West shots to only one for Oak Ridge. Then, in the second stanza, West's Tanner Thompson booted home the go-ahead goal with less than 20 minutes left in the match. The Rebels added another late tally to claim the victory.

West will host Region 1 runner-up Science Hill in a sectional game Saturday, while Oak Ridge will visit Kingsport Sullivan South.
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CATHOLIC 4, CAK 0

Knoxville (WVLT) -- The more it rained, the more Catholic poured it on.

Meeting for the 11th time in the last four years, Catholic shutout Christian Academy of Knoxville 4-0 to claim the Region 2 A/AA soccer championship.

Thanks to a Spencer Payne goal, Catholic led the Warriors 1-0 at the half.

In the second half, as the rains picked up, Catholic seemed to find a rhythm. Luke Mishu had several runs up the left side of the field. In the half's 20th minute, he fired a shot on goal, but the shot was deflected by Ricardo Martinez--deflected straight into the corner of the goal.

Roughly two minutes later, the Irish struck again. This time it was Michael Bonfini launching one from just outside the penalty box. His goal gave Catholic a commanding 3-0 lead.

Payne's second goal of the evening accounted for the final scoring margin.

CAK, the 5-time defending A/AA state champions, played Thursday's game without all-state performer Brandon Tarr. Tarr is battling some injuries, but it's believed the South Carolina signee will play Saturday when CAK takes on Pigeon Forge in a sectional game. (Pigeon Forge beat Elizabethton 2-0 to host Saturday's game.)

Catholic will host Elizabethton is the other area sectional. All sectional game winners head to next week's state tournament in Murfreesboro.