Lucy Riddle(left) and Maddy Jones(right) with the district superlative awards on Thursday
Competing on their home field for a district
championship for the 3rd year in a row, the Lady Raider soccer team
of Coffee County CHS welcomed Franklin County to the Raider Soccer Field on Thursday. Coffee
County outshot the visiting Rebelettes but could not get a ball into the back
of the net. In a match you heard here on
Thunder Radio, Franklin County claimed the heart-breaking 1 nil win over the
Lady Raiders.
Franklin County converted on a long through-ball
in the 15th minute as the Rebelettes got behind the Lady Raider
defense for goal which stood up for the final 65 minutes of the match. Coffee
County outshot Franklin County 11 to 7.
Lucy Riddle finished the match with 3 saves.
After the match, 10 different Lady Raiders were
selected for All-District honors. Named
to the 2nd team all-district team were: Jayda Wright, Kyleigh
Harner, Britney Hernandez and Anna Amado.
Named to the 1st team all-district team were Jenna Garretson,
Reagan Ellison, Reyna Flores and Katie Cotten.
Lucy Riddle was named the district keeper of the year and Maddy Jones
was selected as the district forward of the year. First year Lady Raider head coach Lee Xixis
was named the District 8AAA coach of the year.
With the loss, Coffee County will travel to Siegel
on Tuesday night for the Region 4AAA semifinals. Thunder Radio will be on hand to bring you
the broadcast as part of the 1st National Bank Hometown Sports
Series. The location and starting time
of the game will be announced over the weekend.
The Nashville Predators fell behind 2-0 in the first period and struggled to find their game against Arizona, as the Coyotes ultimately prevailed, 5-2, at Gila River Arena on Thursday night.
Preds blueliner Dante Fabbro cut the deficit to 2-1 and Nick Bonino scored his third goal in four games, but Nashville never drew even with the Coyotes after Phil Kessel’s first of two tallies on the evening put Arizona up by a pair at 10:34 of the first.
The result sees the Preds finish their three-game road trip with a single victory and their record moves to 4-3-0 on the season.
“Not good,” Preds Head Coach Peter Laviolette said of his team’s performance. “We were outworked and out competed, out skated, so we got what we deserved. We didn’t put anything into it, we didn’t get anything out of it.”
Arizona scored three times on the power play, including a pair from Kessel, and the Predators left disappointed with their efforts after a solid win in Las Vegas two nights earlier.
Juuse Saros made 27 saves on the night for the Preds to keep things within reach, but Nashville was never able to find the equalizer.
“They’re a good team, obviously, but I think we just came out flat,” Preds Captain Roman Josi said. “We didn’t win any battles. I thought the second was a little better, but still we have to play a lot better to beat a team like that.”
Arizona outshot the Preds by a 15-3 margin in the opening period, and they had a 2-0 lead thanks to goals from Christian Dvorak and Kessel after 20 minutes.
Nashville got some life in the second when Kyle Turris found Fabbro streaking into the zone, and the Predators blueliner fired a shot past Darcy Kuemper to get his club on the board.
“I saw a fast break, an opportunity to jump up in the rush, and Turris made a great play to find me in the slot there, coming in late,” Fabbro said of his goal. “I almost lost it, but was able to get a shot off and fortunate for it to go in.”
But before the middle stanza was finished, the Coyotes added their third when Jakob Chychrun converted on the power play, and Kessel added his second of the night in the third to make it 4-1. Bonino gave the Preds life late in regulation when he tipped in a shot in the slot, but Arizona quickly added an empty-netter to ice it.
“It’s tough being on the penalty kill all game and for guys to create energy off that,” Fabbro said. “We have to find a way to stay out of the box and continue our game within our structure.”
The Predators now head back home to begin a three-game set at Bridgestone Arena, and it starts Saturday night against Florida. No doubt they’ll be eager to erase the memory of this one in the desert.
“It wasn’t a great game from us,” Josi said. “They were the better team, and we got what we deserved.”
Notes:
Filip Forsberg missed Thursday’s game in Arizona due to a lower-body injury and is day-to-day. Daniel Carr took Forsberg’s spot in the lineup on the night.
The Predators return to Nashville on Saturday night (at 7 p.m. CT) to host the Florida Panthers to begin a three-game homestand. Anaheim and Minnesota will also make stops in Tennessee next week.
Coffee County’s Elementary Basketball League is set to begin its 47th season on Saturday. The 8 team league, originally contested among Coffee County School System teams began in 1972 with 6 teams. With the addition of the Manchester City School System elementary teams, the league features 8 boys’ teams and 8 girls’ team representing the 8 schools. The league is hosted by the Coffee County Central High School basketball teams and games are played at the Joe Frank Patch Memorial Gym.
This year’s games begin on Saturday, October 19th at 9 AM. The regular season will end on December 1st. This year’s postseason will be completed prior to Christmas as the championship games are scheduled for December 14th.
The Westwood Middle School basketball teams invite
the public to the Joel Vinson Gym on Thursday night for a pair of “Blue &
White Games”. The Rockets and Lady Rockets will each take
part in an intersquad scrimmage in preparation for the upcoming season. The girls’ game will get underway at 6:30 PM
with the boys’ game to follow.
Defending their regular season district title at
home on Tuesday night, the Lady Raider soccer team of Coffee County CHS
welcomed Shelbyville to the Raider Soccer Field. Coffee County got a hat trick from freshman
Katie Cotten and a pair of goals from senior Jenna Garretson to claim a 6 to 1
win.
After a pair of hard fought games in the regular
season, Coffee County was expecting a physical contest. In a match that saw a pair of penalty kicks
awarded and 4 yellow cards assessed, the Lady Raiders were able to dictate play
with an effective passing game. Coffee County outshot Shelbyville 15 to 6 in
the win.
Coffee County raced out to a 2 nil lead in the
first half. Cotten got on the board
first as she poked a pass from Garretson past the Eaglette keeper in the 18th
minute. After a Shelbyville hand ball
violation in the penalty box, Garretson converted a penalty kick in the 21st
minute to give the Lady Raiders a halftime advantage they would not
surrender.
In the 2nd half, Cotten redirected a pass from Anna Amado in the 48th minute for her 2nd goal before scoring her 3rd goal on a shot from an incredible angle from the end line in the 56th to make it 4 nil. That goal seemed to take the starch out of the Eaglettes as Maddy Jones dribbled into the box from the left side and drilled a shot past a stunner Eaglette keeper one minute later. Shelbyville notched a goal on a shot from 35 yards out in the 68th minute to give themselves a little bit of life, but Britney Hernandez was taken down from behind in the box 2 minutes later and Garretson drilled home the resulting penalty kick for the final margin.
Lucy Riddle was flawless in goal as she finished with 5 saves, and also made great decisions on defending the box all night long. The win improves Coffee County’s record to 11-3-2 on the season.
With the win, Coffee County will host Franklin County on Thursday night in the District 8AAA finals. Thunder Radio will be on hand to bring you the broadcast as part of the 1st National Bank Hometown Sports Series. Opening kick is set for 6:30 PM, we begin our live coverage with the pregame show at 6:20. The Lady Raider soccer boosters will host a pregame tailgate party beginning at 5 PM featuring free chili and hot dogs. Additionally, the first 50 Coffee County CHS students will receive free admission to the game. Make plans to attend
Making their 8th straight appearance in the region tournament, the Coffee County volleyball team traveled to Siegel on Tuesday afternoon. Matching up against District 7AAA runner-up Blackman in the semifinals, the Lady Raiders season came to a close in a straight set defeat. Coffee County fell by set scores of 6-25, 19-25 and 10-25.
The Lady Raiders were dominated at the net as they finished with only 12 kills against 12 hitting errors. The exception to that trend was Lexi Bryan who finished with 5 kills and a block. Keelie Hillis added 3 kills and 6 assists. Amanda Mukai led Coffee County in assists with 6 while Kiya Ferrell and Abigail Parker led the team in digs with 4. Parker and Keri Munn each finished with 3 aces apiece to pace the Lady Raiders.
After the match, Lexi Bryan and Keelie Hillis were named to the All-Region team. Coffee County ends the season with a final record of 22 and 10. The Lady Raiders won the regular season and postseason District 8AAA titles.
The Coffee County Middle School 6th
grade basketball team hosted West Tullahoma on Tuesday night at the CCMS
gym. The Lady Raiders rolled to a 56 to
10 win. The Red Raiders fell 31 to
10.
The Lady Raiders raced out to a 26 to 1 lead in the first quarter and never looked back. Natalie Barnes hit 7 three point baskets in the game, including 4 in the 1st quarter, to finish with 27 points. Ella Arnold added 14 points and Morgan Spears added 10.
Luke Campbell of CCMS basketball
The Red Raiders had a cold shooting night as they
scored 5 points in each half. Regardless
of the shooting woes, Coffee Middle only trailed by 10 going into the 4th
quarter. The Red Raiders were led in scoring
by Luke Campbell and David Lewis who each finished with 3 points.
The house paid the Nashville Predators on Tuesday night.
The Preds scored four unanswered goals across the final two periods to top the Golden Knights, 5-2, at T-Mobile Arena. It’s the first road win of the season for the Preds – arguably something of a statement win for Nashville – and improves their record to 4-2-0.
All four lines tallied on the evening for the Preds – and they got another power-play goal as well – in a bounce-back win after Saturday’s loss in Los Angeles, and it’s an especially satisfying victory in a tough building against an equally high-powered opponent.
“It’s always harder to win on the road,” Predators Head Coach Peter Laviolette said. “You have to dig in a little bit more and the compete level had to go up a little bit. You have to overcome the fans and the building and their home team and their energy. In the second and third period, I thought we were able to get going.”
“We put an emphasis on our second period [being down after one],” Preds defenseman Ryan Ellis said. “We came out a lot harder, got some good bounces, got some goals and never looked back.”
Nashville started the game strong, and less than three minutes into the contest, Kyle Turris redirected an Ellis shot into the twine to give the Preds a 1-0 lead. The Golden Knights came back, however, and a pair of strikes from Mark Stone and Reilly Smith saw Vegas take a lead into the first intermission.
But the second period – that one belonged to the Preds. It took Colton Sissons 44 seconds into the middle frame to tie the game, and then Nashville went back to work. First, Viktor Arvidsson emerged from around the cage and fed Calle Jarnkrok, who one-timed his first of the season home to give the Preds the lead again.
Then, less than two minutes after that, Vegas goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury turned the puck over behind his own net, and Filip Forsberg pounced to deposit his fifth goal of the season, a mark that helped him to tie a franchise record. The goal gave Forsberg at least a point in all six games to start the season, a total that pulls him even with former Preds defenseman Marek Zidlicky for the longest point streak of its kind in team history.
Nashville fought the urge to sit back in the third period and ended up extending their lead to 5-2 with a power-play goal in their fourth consecutive game. Kyle Turris one-timed a shot off a cross-crease pass and Nick Bonino deflected the shot into the net to give both players their second points on the night.
“We’re balanced and we’re deep and we’re dangerous,” Bonino said of Nashville’s offensive prowess. “Our [defensemen] jump in, our forwards are all creative, everyone making plays, and tonight was a perfect example of that.”
Perhaps a bit lost in another five-goal output was the effort from Pekka Rinne who made 33 saves on the night to keep a perfect 4-0-0 record this season.
“He was great,” Laviolette said of Rinne. “I really thought that he worked and battled and just stayed with it. There were some scrambles out there where he had to keep fighting for things… He was strong, and he gave us a chance.”
Tuesday’s effort in Vegas now propels the Preds to Arizona, and Tuesday’s effort on the road will provide plenty of confidence with the trip’s finale on the horizon.
“The third period in L.A. was great, but it showed you if we played like that every shift, every period, what we can really do,” Ellis said. “Tonight, it was a decent first, but the second and third, we really picked it up and looked like the team we want to be.”
Notes:
Filip Forsberg left the game during the third period, and Preds Head Coach Peter Laviolette said following the game the Nashville forward was “getting evaluated.”
Forward Rocco Grimaldi returned to the Nashville lineup after missing two games with a lower-body injury. Grimaldi assisted on Kyle Turris’s goal and skated 12:51 on the night.
Nashville’s three-game road trip concludes on Thursday night in Arizona (at 9 p.m. CT) before the Preds return home to host the Florida Panthers on Saturday night at Bridgestone Arena.
