2003/09/16 The Nashville City Paper
Rebels, Bruins continue rivalry in soccer
High school soccer fans in the Nashville area are in for a treat tonight, as District 11-AAA powers Franklin and Brentwood meet for the first time in the 2003 season at 7 p.m. at Cheek Park.
The game between the Lady Rebels and Lady Bruins has become one of the biggest high school rivalries in the state of Tennessee and with good reason.
Franklin (8-1-1) has established itself as one of the most dominating soccer programs in the state, recording nine state championships since 1986, with No. 9 coming last season after the Lady Rebels defeated Tullahoma 2-0 in the finals in Chattanooga.
So how does Brentwood fit into all this?
Other than the fact that the two schools have been bitter rivals since Brentwood opened in Williamson County in 1982, the Lady Rebels have been responsible for ending the Lady Bruins season for three of the past four years.
2003/09/17 Tennessean
Rebels keep
by Jessica Hopp
Franklin over Brentwood. Kaley Forrest headed it and thought she saw it bounce off someone's shoulder and out, but instead it hit the back of the net to make the score 1-0.
2003/10/16 Tennessean
All District 11-AAA Soccer Named
All-District Team: Jordan LeFan, Sara Perrigan, Gabby Mayer, and Monica Dunham.
MVP-Offense: Leslie Lopez
Player of the Year: Kaley Forrest
Coach of the Year: Jimmy Burchett
2003/10/30 Chattanooga Free Press
Division I Class AAA State Tournament Program
FRANKLIN
Coach: Jimmy Burchett
Record: 18-1-3
Players to watch: Lucy Brient (F, Jr., 14 goals, 9 assists); Kaitlynn Heilman (M, Jr., 13 goals, 10 assists); Anna Grigg (F, So., 13 goals, 10 assists)
Title hopes: The Lady Rebels are playing their best soccer as they head to state, outscoring their opponents 38-2 in the postseason. While Brient, Heilman and Grigg provide for a balanced offense, senior backs Felecia Maldonado, Ashley Ladd and Alyssa Doolan anchor the defense. Franklin will be looking to avenge last season's penalty-kicks loss to Siegel when the teams meet again in the quarterfinals.
2003/11/06 Farragut Press
Everything but goals for Lady Admirals Nothing to show for second-half dominance in state semifinal soccer loss to perennial power Franklin
By Alan Sloan
Dennis Lindsay can relate to any Boston Red Sox fan: So close, and yet so far. Despite fielding another outstanding Farragut High School girls soccer team this fall, coach Lindsay’s Lady Admirals once again fail to win the program’s first state championship.
It didn’t seem to matter that Farragut outplayed perennial power Franklin for a majority of their Class AAA state semifinal Thursday in Chattanooga. It didn’t seem to matter than FHS out-shot the Lady Rebels 27 to 7. It didn’t seem to matter that Farragut beat this same team 4-0 earlier in the season.
What seemed to matter was that the Lady Admirals were playing the closest thing to the New York Yankees in Tennessee High School soccer. Franklin not only found a way to beat FHS 3-0, but went on to claim its 10th state title two days later with a 3-1 win against Hendersonville.
During the post-game handshake with the Franklin head coach Jimmy Burchett, “(Burchett) said, ‘sometimes life just isn’t fair, he said ‘you completely dominated us,’” Lindsay recalled. “We took it to ‘em, we just couldn’t put it in the net. An inch here, an inch there and it would have been a completely different game.
“I thought we played a good, hard game,” Lindsay added. “We played a game well enough to win, we just didn’t do it.”
Ranked among the top-five in the state the entire season, Farragut finishes with a 24-4 overall record.
FRANKLIN 3 FARRAGUT 0
Franklin led 1-0 at halftime before what might have been a back-breaking goal — both strategically and emotionally — less than one minute into the second half.
“They got a couple of shots in that were unbelievable, like a freaky bounce,” Lindsay said while specifically pointing to the second Lady Rebel goal. “That was a fluky goal,” he said. “It took backspin ... you couldn’t hit that again in a hundred years. It’s just a weird thing.”
While Lady Admiral attackers repeatedly kept charging the net and making good passes only to have a shot go barely wide on barely high, the Lady Rebels smelled victory.
“We’ve had days like that when everything we shoot has been over (the net),” Lindsay said. “I can’t explain it. We practice keeping our shots low, but they try to get just a little extra power and it sails on ‘em.”
This was Franklin’s third state tournament win against Farragut since 1999.
Asked about having “a history with Franklin,” the FHS skipper shot right back: “The history is they win and we lose,” Lindsay said. “We beat ‘em earlier this year. But I knew we were in for a fight.
“Our girls did fight, the fighting wasn’t the problem,” Lindsay added. “Getting it in the net was the problem.”
Overconfident because of the big regular season win? “No, they came prepared to play,” Lindsay said. “I think we dominated, and you don’t dominate ‘em unless you’re prepared.”
Senior All-state defender Mandy Milazzo, along with standouts Alicia Frear and Melanie Miller, played their final game last Thursday.
“They’ve been fantastic players for me,” Lindsay said. “I appreciate their leadership this year. I know this game hurts them a lot, they wanted it bad. It just wasn’t meant to be.”
Did the Lady Admirals start pressing when they fell behind 1-0? “No, because if you noticed we started playing better when we got down a goal,” Lindsay said. “We came out flat, the first few minutes we were flat. That one goal kind of woke us up.”
LOOKING AHEAD
“I’ve said this before, I think next year we’ll be a better team,” Lindsay said. “We’re losing three good seniors, but you’ve got a whole bunch of ‘em that are going to improve just a little to compensate. Overall, I believe we’ll have a stronger team next year.”
TAKE IT IN STRIDE
In a lighthearted attempt to deal with the frustration, Lindsay turned to humor: “I’m going to say one of the assistant coaches is the finishing coach.”
2003/11/02 Tennessean
Franklin claims its 10th soccer crown
by Jeff Lockridge
Franklin's sophomore forward scored two goals and helped generate another for Kaley Forrest in the first half of the Lady Rebels' 3-1 win over Hendersonville in the Class AAA girls soccer championship game.
2004/02 MTSU Blue Raiders.Com
Soccer announces signee
MURFREESBORO, Tenn. - Middle Tennessee soccer coach Aston Rhoden announced the signing of Kaley Forrest to national letters-of-intent on Monday, the first signee for the 2004 class.
Forrest, a Franklin High School product, will reunite with former teammates Katy Rayburn and Sara Wohlhueter at Middle Tennessee. Forrest helped lead FHS to back-to-back state championships in the state of Tennessee, earning First Team All-State and All-Midstate honors in both seasons.
She spent three years playing for coach Jimmy Burchett at FHS, garnering All-District and All-District Tournament team accolades as a junior and senior. The defender is a member of the Tennessee ODP. Forrest attended Soddy Daisy High School in Chattanooga, Tenn., as a freshman.
"Kaley is a very solid midfielder and is very strong in the air," Rhoden said. "She has great field awareness and exceptional passing skills. Kaley is very good coming forward and dangerous on set pieces."
The Blue Raiders began offseason workouts this week with Strength and Conditioning Coach Darren Edgington, as well as individual workouts with the coaching staff. The squad will begin its spring schedule in mid-March.