After handing top-ranked Baylor its first loss of the season in Thursday’s Division II Class AA girls’ soccer semifinal, anything less than a state championship would have been a disappointment for Father Ryan.

The Lady Irish headed back to Nashville having accomplished their mission with a 1-0 victory over Briarcrest Christian in Friday afternoon’s title match at GPS.

“That was our goal,” Father Ryan coach Robin Dietrich said. “The girls have been saying ‘State in ‘08.’ That’s what they wanted, and it’s great to be able to finish it off.”

Briarcrest had several dangerous scoring opportunities in the rainy first half, but only the Lady Irish could finish one. They took the lead when Katherine Montesi headed in a ball from Rachel Mayes in the 34th minute, and keeper Emily Hubbuch totaled six saves to preserve the shutout for Father Ryan despite the wet ball and slippery field.

“In soccer, if you don’t finish your chances, it’s always going to come back to haunt you,” Briarcrest coach Chris Bartels said. “We had three, four, maybe five fantastic chances to put the game away in the first half, and we didn’t.”

Friday’s D-II Class A championship match came down to which team would be the last to finish an opportunity, and when freshman Caroline Chadwell connected with 5.7 seconds remaining in the second sudden-death overtime period, it gave Harding Academy a 5-4 win over St. George’s Independent School.

It was the forward’s third goal of the day and avenged the Lady Lions’ 4-1 loss to St. George’s in last year’s Class A final.

“This is big-time, especially since we came to the final last year and lost to them,” Harding coach Justin Battles said. “It’s like we got another chance at it. I just kept telling the girls to hang in there, and they did. They left everything they had on the field. The sight of that trophy kept them going.”

Trophies for Division I Class A/AA and Class AAA will be awarded today at GPS. Franklin Road Academy will face Christian Academy of Knoxville in the Class A/AA final at noon, and Siegel will play Brentwood for the Class AAA title at 2:30.

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