Category: Sports

Colton Sissons’s first-period tally was taken off the board, and the Vegas Golden Knights responded with the game’s first three goals to top the Predators, 5-1, on Saturday night at T-Mobile Arena.

The result denies Nashville’s bid for a three-game sweep of their season series with Vegas and keeps them at 73 points. The Preds will complete their two-game trip in Dallas on Tuesday.

Nashville allowed 50 shots on the night, with goaltender Juuse Saros turning aside 45 of them to keep his club in it for most of the contest, undoubtedly the best player for the Preds.

“In front of Saros, we’re lucky it wasn’t 6-0 after two periods,” Preds Captain Roman Josi said. “We have to be a lot better in front of him.”

“It wasn’t a good game,” Predators Head Coach Peter Laviolette said. “We were outdone in a lot of areas and the score reflected that.”

Sissons appeared to give the visitors their first goal in the opening 20 minutes since Feb. 7 and a 1-0 lead late in the first period, but a Vegas challenge showed the play was offside and the Golden Knights took their own 1-0 lead just a couple of minutes later.

Nashville struggled to protect the slot especially across the opening 40 minutes and goals by Max Pacioretty and Brandon Pirri put the Golden Knights up 2-0 with a whopping 41 shots on goal through two periods.

“The second period is, for me, unexplainable,” Laviolette said. “That’s back-to-back second periods where we just didn’t show up.”

“In the second, they just completely took over,” Josi said. “They were faster than us, they played better, they played right in front, they wanted it more, and it’s a really bad second period from us. We left Saros all alone.”

Kevin Fiala cut the Golden Knights’ lead to 3-1 early in the third period, but a failed power-play chance and a shot that went wide of the net on a 3-on-1 bid meant that was as close as Nashville’s comeback bid would go.

Oscar Lindberg’s goal and Pacioretty’s second of the evening stretched the Vegas lead to 5-1 in the final minutes of the third.

“We have to look at it,” Josi said. “It’s been happening too much that we play a good first and come out in the second flat and don’t play well at all… We’re capable of playing a lot better and we have to fix it.”

Notes:

Preds defenseman P.K. Subban took on his younger brother, Malcolm, on Saturday. The Subbans are one of 17 brother pairings currently in the NHL.

Miikka Salomaki took part in the Predators’ morning skate on Saturday and remains on Injured Reserve. Frederick Gaudreau, Cody McLeod and Matt Irwin were scratched for Nashville against Vegas.

Nashville will face Dallas at American Airlines Center on Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. (CT). Be on the lookout on Monday for photos from the Cotton Bowl, the venue that will host the 2020 Bridgestone Winter Classic between the Preds and Stars.

Chase Simpkins of Coffee County CHS basketball

Trying to get their 3^rd win of the season over Lawrence County, the Coffee County Red Raiders squared off against the Wildcats on their home floor on Friday night.  With a home region tournament game as the reward to the winner, the 2 teams battled from the tip-off to the final horn in the District 8AAA tournament semifinals.  In the end, Coffee County rose to the occasion in the 4^th quarter to get the 50 to 44 win and advance to Saturday’s District championship game.

After ending the 1^st quarter tied at 8, the Red Raiders nudged ahead by 3 points at the half and stretched that lead to 7 points heading to the 4^th quarter.  Lawrence County responded to close the gap to 2 points with 5 minutes left in the game on a pair of 3 pointers.  From that point, Coffee County was able to knock down just enough field goals and free throws to hold off the upset-minded Wildcats.

Darius Rozier was the leading scorer for Coffee County as he finished with 14 points, including 5 clutch free throws in the 2^nd half.  Kyle Farless added 12 points, with 8 of those points coming in the second half.  Chase Simpkins and Harley Hinshaw each added 8 points with Simpkins getting 6 second half points and Hinshaw netting 5.  For their efforts, Rozier, Farless, Simpkins and Hinshaw were named the Crazy Daisies co-players of the game.   The win improves Coffee County to 19 and 5 on the season and guarantees them a home game in the first round of the region tournament next week.

The Red Raiders will advance to Saturday’s championship game where they will take on Columbia.  Tip-off is set for 7:00 PM at Lawrence County High School.  Thunder Radio will bring you the broadcast beginning with the Char-El Apartments and Home Rental pregame show at 6:50.

The Lady Raiders will also play in Saturday’s girls’ championship game where they will take on Tullahoma.  Tip-off is set for 3:30 PM at Lawrence County High School.  Thunder Radio will bring you all the action beginning with the Powers Storage pregame show at 3:20.

Download the broadcast at: www.Thunder1320.com/downloads

2019 Dist 8AAA Girls Basketball Tournament(updated 2-15)

2019 Dist 8AAA Boys Basketball Tournament(updated 2-15)

Coffee County wrestler Rey Reyes in action at region meet on February 8, 2019

Three members of the Coffee County wrestling team opened up competition in the TSSAA State Tournament on Thursday in Franklin.  Jesse Hay-Smith, Rey Reyes and Christopher Speagle were all in action on Thursday afternoon and evening in their own 32 man individual tournament bracket.  The state tournament is taking place at the Williamson County Agricultural Exposition Park in Franklin.   Qualifier Brett Francis was a late scratch and did not participate.   The Red Raiders struggled on the state championship stage losing 5 of their 7 matches.  All 3 wrestlers dropped their opening round matchups.

At 145 pounds, Jesse Hay-Smith was pinned in the first round of his opening match to fall into the consolation bracket.  In the consolation, Hay-Smith fell in a hard fought 3 to 0 decision to end his state tournament run.

At 220 pounds, Chris Speagle was pinned in the 2^nd round of his opening match of the day.  Speagle was eliminated in the consolation bracket with a pinfall in the 3^rd round of his match.

At 182 pounds, Rey Reyes lost in his opening round match in a 2rd round pin.  Reyes rebounded with a pair of wins on Thursday night in the consolation round.  Reyes fought his way to a first round pin to open competition in the consolation round.  In the 2^nd consolation round, Reyes got a 3^rd round pin to advance to the round of 16.

Reyes will be back in action on Friday.  Wrestling will continue on Friday at 10 AM with the championships on Saturday.  Lady Raider wrestler Mary Anne Walker will weigh-in at 8:30 on Friday and her first round match will be at 10 AM on Friday morning.  The girls’ championship will also be held on Saturday beginning at 10 AM.  Tickets for the event are $10 daily with a parking charge of $5 per car.

You can keep track of their performances in real time online at: http://www.tssaasports.com/wrestling

Brian Boyle(#11 on right) celebrates with teammate P.K. Subban (#76) following his first goal as a Nashville Predator on Thursday night.[Photo by SportsNet.ca]

Pekka Rinne made 34 saves for the Predators (34-21-5), who ended a three-game losing streak.

Tomas Tatar scored for Montreal (31-19-7), which has lost two games in a row and is 4-1-2 in its past seven. Carey Price made 35 saves.

Boyle, playing his fifth game with the Predators since being acquired in a trade from the New Jersey Devils on Feb. 6, gave Nashville a 2-1 lead at 8:36 of the third period when he scored with a slap shot from the point off a drop pass from P.K. Subban.

Viktor Arvidsson made it 3-1 at 11:00. Ryan Johansen made a pass across the crease, and Arvidsson one-timed it for his Predators-leading 26th goal.

Tatar scored off a give-and-go with Andrew Shaw to tie the game 1-1 at 5:26 of the third.

Ryan Hartman gave the Predators a 1-0 lead at 9:49 of the second period when he scored to end a 27-game goal drought dating to Dec. 13. Craig Smith received a pass from Hartman and took a slap shot from the right face-off circle, and Hartman batted the rebound out of midair for his 10th goal.

Subban and Montreal defenseman Shea Weber played against each other in Nashville for the first time since being traded for each other June 29, 2016. Weber played his 900th NHL game.

Predators defenseman Mattias Ekholm missed the game because of illness.

Five members of the Coffee County CHS wrestling team will compete in the TSSAA state tournament which begins on Thursday.  The state tournament will take place at the Williamson County Agricultural Exposition Park in Franklin.  The boys weigh-in will take place at 1 PM on Thursday with wrestling getting underway at 3 PM in the first 2 rounds.  Tickets for the event are $10 daily with a parking charge of $5 per car.

Red Raider wrestler Brett Francis, who will compete at 120 pounds, will wrestle in Match #39 against Tristen Entwistle of West Creek High School in Clarksville.  Jesse Smith, wrestling at 145 pounds, will wrestle in Match #103 against Joseph Frye of Science Hill High School in Johnson City.   Rey Reyes, wrestling at 182 pounds, will wrestle in Match #161 against Dylan Jones of Cleveland.  Chris Speagle, wrestling at 220 pounds, will wrestle in Match #208 against Zachary Phillips of Bartlett High School.  Lady Raider wrestler Mary Anne Walker, fighting in the 125 class, will open against Kaylee Hayes of Gibbs High School.

The boys weigh-in will take place at 1 PM on Thursday with wrestling getting underway at 3 PM in the first 2 rounds. Wrestling continues on Friday at 10 AM with the championships on Saturday.  Lady Raider wrestler Mary Anne Walker will weigh-in at 8:30 on Friday and her first round match will be at 10 AM on Friday morning.  The girls’ championship will also be held on Saturday beginning at 10 AM.  Tickets for the event are $10 daily with a parking charge of $5 per car.

You can keep track of their performances online at: www.tssaasports.com/wrestling/

The Coffee County baseball team will be hosting their annual Spring Baseball Clinic on Saturday, March 9th.  Players will utilize the facilities at Powers Field and the Crethan Hansert Hitting Facility on the campus of Coffee County Central High School.  Campers will work with Red Raiders head coach David Martin and his staff along with members of the CHS varsity baseball team.  Each camper will receive age appropriate, hands-on instruction in all aspects of the game.

The clinic is open to boys and girls ages 5 to 17 who wish to learn more about hitting, defense, base running and pitching.  Campers should bring with them a bat, glove, tennis shoes, cleats, hat and batting helmet to the camp which will run from 9 AM to Noon.   Concessions will also be made available at Powers Field on the day of the clinic.

Cost for the clinic is $20 per player if paid in advance.  Cost of the clinic, if not paid before March 9^th, will be $25.  A sibling discount of half price will apply for any additional campers.  If you have questions or wish to pre-register, contact Jamie Spry at: jamie.o.spry@adjent.com or call him at 931-273-2265.  Coach David Martin will be a guest on Saturday’s Coffee Coaches Show to talk about the clinic and give us an update on the first week of preseason practice.  The Coffee Coaches Show is heard live each Saturday from 10 to 11 right here on Thunder Radio.  The Coffee Coaches Show is broadcast live from the showroom of Al White Ford/Lincoln in Manchester.

U.S. Women’s National Team head coach Jill Ellis has named the 23-player roster for the 2019 SheBelieves Cup, which features the top-ranked Americans, No. 4 England, No. 8 Japan and No. 10 Brazil. All four teams will be participating in this summer’s 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup in France. Brazil, Japan and the USA are three of the seven teams that have participated in each of the seven previous Women’s World Cup tournaments.

USA will play England on Saturday, March 2 (3:30 p.m. CT on FOX), which will be preceded by Brazil vs. Japan (1 p.m. CT on ussoccer.com).

3 Reasons SheBelieves Transcends Soccer

U.S. WNT 2019 SheBelieves Cup Roster (Caps/Goals)

GOALKEEPERS (3): Adrianna Franch (Portland Thorns FC; 0/0), Ashlyn Harris (Orlando Pride; 19/0), Alyssa Naeher (Chicago Red Stars; 40/0)

DEFENDERS (7): Abby Dahlkemper (NC Courage; 32/0), Tierna Davidson (Chicago Red Stars; 14/1), Crystal Dunn (NC Courage; 77/24), Kelley O’Hara (Utah Royals FC; 112/2), Becky Sauerbrunn (Utah Royals FC; 151/0), Casey Short (Chicago Red Stars; 27/0), Emily Sonnett (Portland Thorns FC; 28/0)

MIDFIELDERS (6): Danielle Colaprico (Chicago Red Stars; 2/0), Julie Ertz (Chicago Red Stars; 74/18), Rose Lavelle (Washington Spirit; 21/6), Samantha Mewis (NC Courage; 43/8), Andi Sullivan (Washington Spirit 11/0), McCall Zerboni (NC Courage; 8/0)

FORWARDS (7): Tobin Heath (Portland Thorns FC; 143/25), Carli Lloyd (Sky Blue FC; 266/105), Jessica McDonald (NC Courage; 5/1), Alex Morgan (Orlando Pride; 155/98), Christen Press (Utah Royals FC; 108/47), Mallory Pugh (Washington Spirit; 45/13), Megan Rapinoe (Reign FC; 146/41)

All 23 players on the U.S. roster were with the WNT for its first two games of the year that were played in France and Spain in January.

“The SheBelieves Cup is a positive event in many ways, but it’s extremely valuable to get three challenging games against World Cup-bound teams in a short time span that can simulate navigating through group play,” said Ellis. “These are all teams that can go deep in the tournament this summer and provide the kind of tests we need as we continue to work to crystalize our lineup and our final roster for the World Cup.”

The U.S. team begins its schedule at the fourth annual edition of the world’s most elite four-team women’s tournament on Wednesday, Feb. 27 against Japan at Talen Energy Stadium in Chester, Pa. (7 p.m. ET on FS1). England will kick off the competition against Brazil (4 p.m. ET on ussoccer.com) in the early game that day.

All the teams will then travel to Nashville, Tenn. and Nissan Stadium where the USA will play England on Saturday, March 2 (3:30 p.m. CT on FOX), which will be preceded by Brazil vs. Japan (1 p.m. CT on ussoccer.com). The tournament will finish on Tuesday, March 5, at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Fla. as Japan takes on England (5:15 p.m. ET on ussoccer.com) followed by the tournament finale, featuring the USA against Brazil (8 p.m. ET on FS1).

The 2019 SheBelieves Cup will take the USA halfway through Countdown to the Cup, the team’s 10-game pre-World Cup schedule. Following the tournament, the USA will have two friendly matches in April – against Australia and Belgium – and then three “Send-Off Series” games, against South Africa, New Zealand and Mexico, before leaving for France and the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup.

“We are excited about the upcoming tournament and excited about the selection of players that we will have on the SheBelieves roster,” Ellis added. “Aside from injuries, we are building consistency in the group and testing ourselves against other high caliber teams. These remaining eight matches narrow our focus and we will use these games as fantastic opportunities to continue to come together as a team on and off the field.”

Fifteen of the players named were on last year’s SheBelieves Cup roster and nine players will be participating in their fourth SheBelieves Cup.

TICKETS

Tickets for all three doubleheaders are on sale through ussoccer.com. Groups of 20 or more can submit an online order form at ussoccer.com. SheBelieves Cup VIP packages that include a premium ticket, a tournament t-shirt & scarf, field-level access to watch warmups, and other unique benefits are also available exclusively through ussoccer.com for all three doubleheaders. Coaches Circle and Presidents Circle members supporting the U.S. Soccer Development Fund can receive individual customer support and concierge services for their ticketing needs. Contact circles@ussoccer.org for more information.

Additional Notes:

There will be a total of 27 players in the USA’s pre-tournament training camp that will be held in Tampa, Fla. Training with the USA during that period will be goalkeeper Jane Campbell, defender Merritt Mathias, defender Emily Fox and midfielder Allie Long.

Midfielder Lindsey Horan was not available for selection due to a quadriceps injury.

Forward Alex Morgan comes into the match with 98 career goals, just two shy from becoming the seventh player in U.S. history to score 100 or more goals.

The USA’s meetings with Japan and Brazil are the first since last summer’s Tournament of Nations when the USA downed Japan, 4-2, and Brazil, 4-1, on the way to claiming the tournament title.

The USA’s last meeting with England came during the 2018 SheBelieves Cup, a 1-0 victory.

The tournament format will be the same as the first three years. The winner will be based on total points (three for a win, one for a draw), with the first tie-breaker being overall goal difference, followed by goals scored, then head-to-head result. If teams are still tied, the next tie-breaker will be the Fair Play ranking.

Each Team is allowed six substitutes per game.

All the U.S. matches of the tournament will be shown in the USA on the FOX family of networks, while the non-U.S. matches will be available to watch on ussoccer.com.

The average age of the U.S. roster for this SheBelieves Cup is 27.9 years.

All 23 players on the U.S. roster play in the NWSL, including defender Tierna Davidson, who was the first pick in the 2019 NWSL Draft by the Chicago Red Stars.

In the previous three editions of this tournament, no individual player has scored more than two goals in a tournament. Four players have scored twice: Alex Morgan in 2016, Camille Abily of France in 2017, and Ellen White of England and Eugénie Le Sommer in 2018.

Of the first 12 SheBelieves Cup matches over 2016 and 2017, 11 were decided by one or less goal, with just nine goals scored over the six games in both 2016 and 2017.

In 2018, the teams combined for 16 goals and two matches saw three-goal margins of victory with England beating France 4-1, and France beating Germany 3-0.

The 2018 SheBelieves Cup marked the debut of England head coach Phil Neville, the former Manchester United and Everton star and England National Team defender. In that SheBelieves Cup, England beat France, tied Germany and lost to the USA. Since then, England has gone 6-1-2 with the only loss coming to the USA’s Group F opponent Sweden, a 2-0 setback in November in Rotherham.

2019 Dist 8AAA Girls Basketball Tournament (updated 2-12-19)

With the conclusion of the District 8AAA basketball quarterfinal matchups on Tuesday night, Coffee County’s semifinals matchups have been set.  The Lady Raiders will square off against 4^th seeded Lincoln County in the semifinals on Thursday night at 6 PM at Lawrence County High School.  The Lady Raiders won both meetings against the Lady Falcons this season.  Coffee County needed a comeback to defeat Lincoln County 50 to 49 in Manchester on January 28^th.  The Lady Raiders won the January 4^th matchup in Fayetteville 47 to 29.

2019 Dist 8AAA Boys Basketball Tournament (updated 2-12-19)

The Red Raiders will square off against Lawrence County in their semifinal matchup on Friday.  The Red Raiders captured wins in both matchups with the Wildcats this season.  Coffee won 57 to 45 at Lawrenceburg on November 30^th and 60 to 57 at home on January 18^th.

The games both nights will tip off at 6 PM at Lawrence County High School.  Thunder Radio will bring you live coverage of every Coffee County postseason game.  As always, our live coverage will kick off 10 minutes before tip-off with the Chal-El Apartments & Home Rental/Powers Storage Pregame Show.  For more than complete prep sports coverage, remember, nobody does sports like Thunder Radio!

(Subject to change)

Thunder Radio takes seriously our commitment to being your hometown radio station. With that in mind, we are pleased to announce a tentative lineup for exclusive coverage of Coffee County Central High School baseball and softball broadcasts. 2019 marks the 21st year that Thunder Radio has been your eyes and ears for spring sports.

Thunder Radio’s unrivaled coverage will bring you at least 20 regular season games, plus selected postseason games for the Raiders and Lady Raiders. Lucky Knott, the voice of the Raiders and Lady Raiders for most of the past 21 years, will again lend his talents and passion to Thunder Radio’s exclusive broadcasts.  Also, the Thunder Radio sports staff will keep you updated with daily reports on all spring sports all season long as part of our daily sports updates online and in our sports broadcasts.

Our broadcasts will begin on Monday, March 11th with Coffee County softball at home vs. Warren County. And, as always is the case with spring sports, when weather forces cancellations and postponements, Thunder Radio will keep you updated on that as well. For more than complete prep sports coverage, remember, nobody does sports like Thunder Radio!