Eliza Masters of CHS Soccer

The Coffee County Lady Raider soccer season came to a close on Tuesday night in Fayetteville in the District 8AAA semifinals as they fell to Lincoln County 6 to 1. The regular season district champion Lady Falcons scored 2 goals in a 1 minute span in the last 3 minutes of the first half to take a 3 to 0 lead into halftime. Coffee County got their only goal of the game in the 49th minute as Eliza Masters eased an Allie Amado corner kick past the Lincoln County keeper to make the score 3 to 1. Lincoln County came back to score goals in the 59th, 66th and 75th minutes to advance to the district finals where they will host Shelbyville. Lincoln County dominated the time of possession and out shot Coffee County 25 to 3. Coffee County keepers Ali Shelton and Holli Smithson combined for 12 saves on the night. Masters had the only shot for Coffee County in the 2nd half on the goal and added a first half shot as did senior Izzy Huddleston. Coffee County finishes the season with a record of 9-8-2

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Maddie Taylor of CHS volleyball (Photo by John StClair – JohnStClairPhoto.com)

Facing the 12th ranked team in the state, the Coffee County Central High School volleyball dropped a 3 set decision in the Region 4AAA semifinals on Tuesday night to Siegel. The talented Lady Stars dismissed the Lady Raiders by set scores of 25-9, 25-10 and 25-7 in a match that lasted 47 minutes.
Advancing to the Region Tournament is always a goal for Coffee County, but 4 weeks ago, that goal almost seemed unreachable for the Lady Raiders. Coffee County graduated 8 players in 2014 who all saw significant playing time and the Lady Raiders started this season with some question marks at several positions. After struggling in the early season, the Lady Raiders finished the season strong winning 14 of their last 19 matches. Coffee County coach Andrew Taylor said “I am extremely proud of what these young ladies accomplished this year.”
Against Siegel, Coffee County ran into a Stars squad who finished a perfect 12 and 0 in district play this year, and after defeating Blackman in the region finals, are 34 and 8 on the season. Coffee County had few answers for Siegel’s size and athleticism on the front line. The Lady Raiders did manage 4 blocks as Aerial Williams had 2 blocks, while Grace Spellings and Baylee Nester each scored a block. Maddie Taylor and Payton Nicoll each had 4 assists while Tyana Fenton and Macie Melton scored 6 digs a piece. Taylor also had the only ace for Coffee County. Diana Davis led the Lady Raiders in kills with 5. For her performance, Maddie Taylor was selected to the All-Region team for Coffee County.

The Westwood Rockets and Lady Rockets basketball teams opened their season on the road Tuesday night with a split at Community.   The Lady Rockets battled from behind to win 40 to 30, while the Rockets fell into a 12 to 0 hole at the beginning of their game on their way to a 43 to 28 defeat.

In the girls game, the Lady Rockets outscored Community 12 to 2 in the 2^nd period to turn a 1 point 1^st quarter deficit into a 9 point lead at the half.  Ashley Starks had 24 points to lead the Lady Rockets while Morgan Jones added 14.  For the Rockets, Shawn Anderson led the way with 10 points as 7 different players scored for Westwood.  Austin Burch and Isiah Owens each added 4 points.

The Westwood JV boys lost 28 to 26 to Community in the JV game.  Westwood returns home on Thursday night as Cascade comes to the Joel Vinson Gym in the home opener for the Rockets and Lady Rockets.  Tip-off for the girls’ game is set for 6:00 PM.

Five Coffee County Middle School football players were selected to the All-Conference team on Tuesday night following the CTC championship game between North and Harris. Blanton Brown, Hayden Skipper, Tanner Hulvey, Brandon Jernigan and Gilberto Infante were selected for the Raiders after Coffee County’s 7 and 2 season and Co-Championship of the CTC. Coffee County finished their season on Saturday in the CTC semifinals as they dropped a heart-breaking 26 to 22 decision to Harris.

Click here for Pete Weber’s Post Game Report

Roman Josi

Pekka Rinne made 22 saves to lead the unbeaten Nashville Predators to a 3-1 victory against the New Jersey Devils at Prudential Center on Tuesday.

Predators defenseman Roman Josi scored twice, a power-play goal midway through the first period and a shorthanded, empty-net goal with 2:39 left in the third. Eric Nystrom also scored into an empty net after the Devils had pulled within 2-1 with 1:40 remaining in the third when Kyle Palmieri scored on a power-play deflection with goalie Keith Kinkaid pulled for an extra attacker.

“I was just happy to see Eric Nystrom’s empty-netter seal the deal,” said Rinne, who has allowed two goals in the three victories. “Obviously you never want to give up a goal but at the same time I was just extremely happy about this win. It wasn’t the most exciting game, and as players we felt that too. But any time you play a game like that it’s going to bother you way more if you come out on the losing side.”

The Predators improved to 3-0-0 for the second time in team history and has outscored its three opponents 7-2. They opened the 2005-06 season by going 8-0-0.

“Our goaltending has been really good and our defense has done a good job from the top of the circles down,” Predators coach Peter Laviolette said. “There hasn’t been too many chances where there have been guys uncovered, so I think we’re doing a good job of protecting the front of our net and guys are blocking shots and doing the little things in the defensive zone.”

Despite the win, Laviolette would like to see a little more out of his offense.

“It’s got to get better,” he said. “In the second period [when the Devils outshot the Predators 6-4] we weren’t very good. I thought we were better in the third but there wasn’t a lot of room out there either. We’re not giving up too much, but we’re not creating too much either.”

Josi scored his goal 19 seconds after Cody Hodgson’s holding penalty gave the Devils a power play and they pulled Kinkaid for a 6-on-4 advantage.

Devils first-year coach John Hynes, who is still seeking his first NHL victory behind the bench, did not regret pulling Kinkaid when his team was given the power play and trailing 1-0 late in the game.

“It’s a situation where we weren’t generating a ton [of offense] 5-on-5 at all in the third period and had an opportunity where we had possession and a power play,” Hynes said. “So every situation is different, and that was how we decided to play it.”

Rinne played in his 384th career game to become the team’s all-time leader in games played by a goaltender, breaking a tie with Tomas Vokoun. Rinne also holds team marks in wins (207) and shutouts (37) in his six seasons, all with the Predators.

He was the first to admit being the beneficiary of solid defensive play throughout.

“We have so many good skaters [on defense] and every one of them block shots and have good sticks,” Rinne said. “It comes down to a lot of things, even with how [the forwards] help out. The biggest thing is guys feel comfortable and feel confident playing together. We communicate a lot on the ice and I think that helps, but overall it’s just how good they all are. We’re fortunate to have those guys.”

Whenever New Jersey did gain entry into the Nashville end, it rarely generated quality second-chance attempts; defensemen Josi, Shea Weber, Barret Jackman, Seth Jones, Ryan Ellis and Mattias Ekholm were strong on every loose puck.

“It’s a combination of us delivering pucks to the net and at times not getting enough traffic there, or they did a good job defensively to deny us opportunities to get to those second pucks,” Hynes said. “We had second chances, but there wasn’t enough times when we had a strong net-front presence, and we weren’t able to get the shots through.”

New Jersey’s leading point-producer, Mike Cammalleri (one goal, three points), was held without a shot attempt and center Adam Henrique struggling in the faceoff circle, winning six of 17 draws.

“We’re not frustrated and we’ll keep pushing forward,” Henrique said. “We need everyone in here in order to win and can’t get frustrated with each other. Obviously there are positives and negatives to every game so we’ll come back [Wednesday], move forward and get better.”

The Devils, who outshot the Predators 23-20, have opened a season with three straight losses (0-3-0) for just the second time in team history; they started 2001-02 by going 0-4-0. The Devils have gone seven straight without a win, dating to the end of the 2014-15 season, and haven’t won in regulation since March 20, going 1-10-3 since with one shootout victory.

Josi scored his first of the season by firing a slap shot from the top of right circle past Kinkaid at 10:34 of the first period. The puck squeezed between the pads of Kinkaid, who may have overplayed the shot by sliding right-to-left too soon.

Kinkaid, who allowed four goals on 26 shots in a 5-3 loss at the Washington Capitals on Saturday, made 17 saves in his second straight start. Kinkaid, who started two straight games for the first time in his career, played in 19 games last season, including 13 starts. No. 1 goalie Cory Schneider was unavailable after his wife, Jill, gave birth to the couple’s first child, a son named Wyatt, early Tuesday morning.

“There’s a good possibility we’ll have Cory next game,” Hynes said. “It wasn’t a health-related thing, but family-related so we’ll see.”

The Devils are off until they host the San Jose Sharks on Friday. The game marks the return of former Devils coach Peter DeBoer, who now coaches the Sharks. The Predators play the second of a three-game road trip against the New York Islanders on Thursday.  That game is set to get underway at 6 PM in Brooklyn and Thunder Radio will bring you the broadcast on the Nashville Predators Radio Network.