by Rusty Ellis
The Livingston Academy Lady Wildcats won a wild 3-2 decision over Signal Mountain on Saturday to advance to the 2022 Class AA State Tournament.
Here’s everything you need to know about Wednesday’s showdown with Page.
The Opponent
Livingston Academy will be the home team on the scoreboard, as they take on the Page Lady Patriots.
The Lady Patriots boast a record of 20-0-2, as ties with Arlington and Lafayette (KY) are all that stand between Page and a perfect record.
Add in that they are on a streak of six consecutive shutouts, and it’s very clear that this will be a tough matchup for Livingston. They aren’t looking at it that way, however.
“They’ve had some stiff competition all season and they’re a good team,” said LA coach Heather Marshall. “There are cracks there, and I’m hoping that we’re able to find some of those cracks. Every team makes mistakes and if we make fewer than them, we’ll be in good shape on Wednesday.”
Keeper Emma Dulworth echoes that same sentiment, saying that while a lot of what Page does is good, though it isn’t anything that’s foreign to the Lady Wildcats.
“Page is a good team, and they try to cross it a lot to get shots in front of the net and their punts are far,” Dulworth said. “It’s not anything we haven’t seen before. We feel like we’re prepared for this.”
The Lady Wildcats boast a record of 19-1, that lone loss coming against the Cookeville Lady Cavs on Sept. 15 in 2-1 fashion. After taking down district rival Cumberland County twice, and defeating Kingston, Anderson County and Signal Mountain in the last week, head coach David Sadler thinks his team has been battle-tested and is ready for what comes their way in Chattanooga.
“I think it’s going to be a great matchup,” Sadler said. “These last five games have really helped us a lot…Signal Mountain gave us a chance to play from behind and it taught us a lot about keeping our composure…Page is disciplined and control the ball well. I think our girls are just as disciplined and it’s very comparable between the two teams.”
Key Players To Watch
For Livingston Academy, it all starts with sophomore Taryn Childers. In her first season in Livingston, Childers has put together one of the best individual seasons in program history.
To this point, she’s racked up a staggering 51 goals and 12 assists for the 19-1 Lady Wildcats. This includes back-to-back hat tricks against Kingston and Anderson County, a six-goal performance against DeKalb County in the district tournament and a game-winner in double-overtime to clinch the spot in the State Tournament.
It’s not just her however, as fellow sophomore Ella Copeland has taken her game up a couple notches as well. For the season, she’s scored eight goals and dished 20 assists, though none of her goals were bigger than the game-tying score against Signal Mountain to force overtime in the substate round.
On defense, keeper Emma Dulworth has played lights out all season and has carried that into the postseason. She’s recorded 115 total saves this season, including two crucial penalty kick saves in the region tournament against Kingston and Anderson County. Dulworth has also put together eight shutouts.
Details
The matchup will take place at Girls Preparatory School in Chattanooga at 11 a.m. Est. Full coverage including highlights, photos and postgame interviews will be available at uppercumberlandreporter.com following the game.