Coffee County CHS soccer traveled to Ooltewah on Tuesday night for their 2nd straight non-district road contest. The Raiders gave up a first half goal to the Owls in the first half to fall 1 to 0.
Ooltewah got on the board in the 10th minute to grab a 1 to 0 lead that stood up. The Red Raiders will once again be road on Friday as they travel to Gatlinburg to take part in the Smokey Mountain Cup Tournament. That tournament concludes on Saturday.
Filip Forsberg
A pair of power-play goals made it interesting, but it was too little, too late for the Nashville Predators on Tuesday night.
Filip Forsberg netted two in the final six minutes of regulation and the Predators outshot the Ducks, 34-18, but the night belonged to Anaheim. The home team boasted a 3-0 lead as the final frame began and Forsberg’s duo of man-advantage goals – the first time Nashville has recorded two power-play markers in a game since December – was a close as the Predators could get.
A 3-2 loss to the Ducks is difficult to take morale victories from, especially for a Predators team that has 11 games left in the regular season.
“It’s a disappointing result and just a sleepy game,” Preds goaltender Pekka Rinne said. “There’s not much going on, and it’s just disappointing at this time of the year. I think we have to ask for more from ourselves, and everybody included. We have to show more speed, desperation, and it’s a situation in the season where we have a lot of things in our own hands, and considering that, it’s disappointing.”
“We’re chasing a game again, and we can’t keep chasing a game,” Preds Head Coach Peter Laviolette said. “All of a sudden we’re shortly into a game, we’re down 2-0 and we can’t play that way. You can do it once in while and come back, but the percentages aren’t with you there.”
Anaheim had a 2-0 lead after the opening period courtesy of goals from Ryan Getzlaf and Jakob Silfverberg. Recovering some, the Predators began the second period with a burst of energy, but after Pekka Rinne stopped Max Jones on a penalty shot, the Ducks got their third on a backhander from Daniel Sprong for a 3-0 lead after two frames.
With two Ducks in the penalty box and six minutes to play, Laviolette elected to send Rinne to the bench for a 6-on-3 edge in skaters for Nashville. Mikael Granlund fed Forsberg on the other side of the offensive zone for the Predators’ first of the evening to make it 3-1 at 14:16. Fifty-eight seconds later, Forsberg potted another to set the final score at 3-2, but that was as close as they came.
The road trip continues in Los Angeles, and as the regular season continues to wind down, the Preds will search for a better outing on Thursday, another opportunity to find the game they know they’re capable of playing.
“You want to win all the games, you want to be playing your best hockey as an individual and as a team, no question about it,” Rinne said. “Everybody knows individually we can be better, and as a team we can be better. It gives us time, but there’s still bigger and better things ahead of us. We’ve got to see the good things, even though after a game like this it’s hard to see that.”
Notes:
Forsberg returned to the Nashville lineup after missing Saturday’s game with an upper-body injury.
Rocco Grimaldi, Frederick Gaudreau and Matt Donovan were scratched for the Preds on Tuesday.
Nashville will now head up the California coast to Los Angeles for a date with the Kings on Thursday before finishing up the trip on Saturday night in San Jose.
Pete Weber’s Postgame Report
Monday Prep Results
CHS Baseball fell to Columbia – 3 to 1 – See Results HERE
CHS Boys’ Soccer blanked Warren Co – 2 to 0 – See Results HERE
CCMS Baseball at Harris – PPD, Make-up date is TBD
CCMS Softball at Harris – PPD, Make-up date is TBD
WMS Baseball at Moore Co – PPD, Make-up date is TBD
CHS Softball HOSTS Warren Co – PPD, Make-up date is March 31st
Tuesday Prep Schedule
4:00 PM – CCMS Tennis HOSTS Tullahoma
4:00 PM – CHS Tennis at Lawrence Co
4:30 PM – CHS Baseball HOSTS Columbia
5:00 PM – CCMS Baseball HOSTS Harris
5:00 PM – CCMS Softball HOSTS Harris
5:00 PM – WMS Softball HOSTS Fayetteville
5:30 PM – WMS Baseball HOSTS Moore Co
5:30 PM – WMS Boys’ Soccer at Riverside Christian
7:00 PM(ET) – CHS Boys’ Soccer at Ooltewah
7:00 PM – CHS Softball at Shelbyville
Felix Salinas of CHS soccer[Photo by Pascale Randolph]
After a scoreless first half, Felix Salinas broke the stalemate with an unassisted goal in the 52nd minute. Drake Medina added an insurance goal in the 79th minute to give Coffee County the season opening win.
The Red Raiders will hit the road on Tuesday as they travel to Hamilton County to take on Ooltewah. That match will get underway at 7 PM Eastern Time (6 Central) in Ooltewah.
Griffin Meeker of CHS baseball
Opening up the season on the road on Monday, the Coffee County Central High School baseball team traveled to Columbia. The Red Raiders opened up against district foe Columbia in Mule Town. Columbia silenced the Raider bats as Coffee County fell 3 to 1 in the season opener.
Coffee County was held to 1 hit on the night as Griffin Meeker had a single in the 2nd inning for Coffee County’s only hit. Coffee County got on the board in the 5th inning when by virtue of 3 walks and a wild pitch. Bryson Hullett got a one out walk and came around to notch the Raiders first run of the season.
Hayden Skipper took the loss on the mound for Coffee County as he gave up 2 earned runs while scattering 4 hits. Skipper struck out 9 in 4 innings of work but four walks and a pair of hit batters helped give Columbia base runners in 5 of their 6 innings.
The Red Raiders return home on Tuesday night for the 2nd game in the season series. First pitch is set for 4:30 PM at Powers Field. Thunder Radio will be on hand to bring you the broadcast. Lucky Knott will have the call beginning with the pregame show at 4:20.
The Coffee County Middle School track team opened their season on Thursday in a 4 team meet in Tullahoma. Taking on West Tullahoma, Harris and North Franklin, Coffee Middle captured 17 first place finishes. Highlighting the performance, the Lady Raiders captured all of the field events and 2 of the 3 relay races. The Red Raiders captured first place in every running event and in 2 of the 3 relay races.
Click to Enlarge
The track teams return to the track on Thursday, April 4th when they host their first home meet of the year. Coffee County will welcome East Tullahoma, North Franklin and Warren County to Carden-Jarrell Field for the 4 team meet. Field events are set to begin at 4:30.
Tough weather conditions on Saturday greeted 3 boats from the Coffee County Youth Bass Club at Nickajack Lake. Fishing in the Tennessee Bass Nation State Trail Event, the Coffee County anglers faced competition from the elements and boats from across the state of Tennessee. Coffee County captured a 4th place finish in the junior division and a 14th place finish in the high school division.
The high school team of Garrett Davis and Isaiah Owens were the top finisher if the high school division for Coffee County. Davis and Owens caught 2 fish weighing in at 5.91 pounds to capture 14th place. The team of Jacob Garms and Colby Thurmond landed on keeper that tipped the scales at 2.44 pounds to come home in 43rd place out of 112 boats. The junior division team of Kylan Mantooth and Lance Marcom could not land a keeper as they ended in a 4th place tie out of 12 boats.
The Coffee County Youth Bass Club will be back on the water on Saturday, March 23rd for a Region Tournament on Percy Priest. Fishing will begin at 1st light and blast off will take place at Fate Sanders Boat Ramp in Smyrna.
Monday Prep Schedule
4:30 PM – CHS Baseball at Columbia
5:00 PM – CCMS Baseball at Harris
5:00 PM – CCMS Softball at Harris
5:00 PM – WMS Baseball at Moore Co
5:30 PM – CHS Softball HOSTS Warren Co – Thunder Radio broadcast
7:00 PM – CHS Boys’ Soccer at Warren Co
Mikael Granlund scored his first goal as member of the Predators, but it wasn’t enough as Nashville fell to the Carolina Hurricanes by a 5-3 final on Saturday night at Bridgestone Arena. The loss snaps Nashville’s two-game win streak and sees the Canes sweep the two-game season series.
The Predators and Hurricanes went back and forth on the evening, especially in the third period, but Carolina was always one step ahead of the home team, and the Preds eventually ran out of time.
“We were better in the second and third, but we were chasing the game,” Preds Head Coach Peter Laviolette said. “With the penalties right off the bat, I felt like we didn’t get any rhythm on the bench. When we did, we were slow, we were not up to the speed they were at. I thought they controlled the first period. I thought the second and third period we were pushing back, but at that point you’re chasing the game. We have to be cleaner at the beginning of the game to avoid those penalties and try to get into a rhythm at 5-on-5.”
“It was a tough start,” Preds forward Craig Smith said. “I thought we got ourselves in a little bit of trouble in the beginning. I don’t think we meant to get that many penalties at the start of the game, but it happened. We were able to deal with the penalties well, and our penalty-kill unit played great. We were able to build a little momentum off that, but they’re a great transitional team and that made it tough. We just ran out of time tonight.”
Nashville’s penalty kill went to work early as the Preds took three penalties in the first 4:17 of the contest, but the group managed to kill an extended 5-on-3 in the process, thanks in part to stellar play of Juuse Saros in net.
However, Nino Niederreiter scored twice later in the opening frame, including one on the power play with less than a minute to play to give Carolina a 2-0 advantage after one.
The Preds got on the board less than three minutes into the second stanza when Smith blasted home his 18th of the season in a period that saw Nashville come out with a much-improved effort.
In the third period, the two clubs went back and forth with the Preds unable to ever catch up to Carolina. After the Canes went up 3-1, Brian Boyle tallied to make it a one-goal game again. Carolina then got their fourth, but with less than three minutes to play in regulation, Granlund was eventually awarded his first with the Preds to cut the lead once more.
The Hurricanes added an empty-netter before the night was through, with the Preds saying they were stuck chasing the game throughout the night.
“I feel like we need to produce more offense, get more zone time, longer shifts in their end,” defenseman Mattias Ekholm said. “I feel like we’re kind of one and done right now. In the second period I thought we were really good; we were spending a lot of time in their zone. That’s where we want to get to, and how we want to play but we haven’t had enough of that lately. I think that’s a huge part. It’s hard for us to play defense all the time, that wears you down. It’s a lot better being in the offensive zone.”
The Predators will get back to practice on Monday before jetting off to California, and they’ll be looking to take the positives from Saturday night – especially the middle frame – in their suitcases.
“We dominated that period, and we probably should have scored more than one,” Ekholm said of the second. “We could have for sure played a lot better, but at the same time if we start playing like we did in that second period, we’re going to start winning a lot of games.”
Notes:
Preds forward Filip Forsberg missed Saturday’s game and is day-to-day with an upper-body injury.
The Predators will now embark to California for a three-game trip next week, beginning on Tuesday night in Anaheim. Nashville will then make stops in Los Angeles and San Jose before returning home after St. Patrick’s Day.
Pete Weber’s Postgame Report
Nashville SC opened the 2019 USL Championship season with a 2-0 victory over Loudon United at First Tennessee Park on Saturday night. After a day of downpour, the skies cleared just in time for NSC’s highly anticipated home debut.
With prolific scorers Daniel Rios and Cameron Lancaster in the starting XI, Nashville SC headed into the game with high hopes for its revamped offense. The offseason roster additions made their presence known tonight with a goal apiece.
The team now turns its attention to a home game on Saturday, March 16 against Saint Louis FC as it looks to continue this promising start to the 2019 season.
90 in a Nutshell
Lebo Moloto was inches from finding the first goal of the season, but one too many touches led to the missed opportunity in the 3’ minute.
Nashville finally unleashed its eagerly awaited attack when Lancaster opened the floodgates in the 59’ minute. The 2018 USL Golden Boot winner headed Moloto’s corner just out of Calle Brown’s reach to make the first mark on Nashville’s 2019 score sheet.
Shortly after, Rios found a goal of his own after capitalizing on a goalkeeping error in the 61’ minute. Brown stood no chance against Rios’ rocket of a shot that was buried into the right corner of the net.
A strong offensive effort was matched by equally inspiring defense. NSC veteran goalkeeper Matt Pickens made a crucial stop in the 73’ minute to preserve the clean sheet, making a diving save to knock away what would have been a Loudoun goal.
Goals
58’ NSH – Cameron Lancaster (Lebo Moloto)
61’ NSH – Daniel Ríos (unassisted)
MLS Signings Open Accounts Early
After Nashville SC had problems finishing chances last season, GM Mike Jacobs and head coach Gary Smith set out to add a scoring punch this past offseason. The pair added the two highest goalscorers from the USL last season in Cameron Lancaster and Daniel Ríos and neither wasted time opening his Nashville SC scoring account. Lancaster scored off a header from a Moloto cross and less than three minutes later, Ríos capitalized on a keeper error to double Nashville’s lead.
Pickens Picks Up Where He Left Off
Matt Pickens finished 2018 as one of the best goalkeepers in the USL as a Goalkeeper of the Year finalist after amassing 14 clean sheets in his 31 starts. Tonight, Pickens was at it again, making three saves to keep his first shutout of the season. It is Pickens’ 16th professional season, and at the age of 36, he shows no signs of aging.
Nashville SC Debuts
While Lancaster and Ríos were Nashville SC debutants on the night, forward Kharlton Belmar and defender Ken Tribbett each also made their NSC debuts. The quartet were among the many high-profile offseason signings for Nashville SC. Belmar recorded a tied for game high four shots, while Tribbett completed over 90% of his passes on the night, the second-highest percentage among NSC starters.
Smith Honored Pregame
Nashville SC head coach Gary Smith was honored prior to the game after it was announced this week that he would transition with the club as its MLS head coach. Smith is one of seven active coaches with an MLS Cup title and is still the only Englishman to win the MLS Cup.
Up Next
Nashville SC will stay inside the friendly confines of First Tennessee Park as it plays host to Saint Louis FC next Saturday at 7 p.m. It will be a battle between teams at the top of the table as Saint Louis beat Indy Eleven 2-1 at home today.