Lady Pioneers Fall to Hixson in District Soccer Championship

Abby Sweatman, left, talks with East Ridge goalkeeper Morgan Montieth during the Lady Pioneers’ 4-3 loss to Hixson in the District 6 A/AA title game Thursday at Camp Jordan.

Hixson avenged a regular-season loss to East Ridge Thursday night at Camp Jordan in the District 6 A/AA Championship game.

The Lady ‘Cats used three goals from Samantha Green and a goal from Carla Martinez to edge East Ridge, 4-3, in a bruising, hard-fought contest.

Hixson took a 1-0 lead about midway through the first half as Green sailed a high shot over the head of goalkeeper Morgan Montieth. The Lady Pioneers responded on an Abby Sweatman penalty kick. Green scored again later in the half, only to have Kayla Deck knot the contest at 2-2.

Montieth was shaken up just before the end of the first half as she took a blow to the face. She was able to shake off the injury and continue.

Serena Smith gave the Lady Pioneers a short-lived lead on a goal early in the second half, only to see Martinez tie the game at 3-3 a few minutes later.

Green gave Hixson the lead for good, and a hat trick for herself, on a free kick with about 15 minutes left in the game.

East Ridge finished the season with a 9-1-2 record, while Hixson moves on to the Region 3 Tournament boasting a 14-5 mark.

About Dick Cook

Dick Cook has lived in East Ridge since the Kennedy Administration when his parents bought a house on Marietta Street. Dick graduated from ERHS in 1976 before going on to the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga where he studied Political Science. Dick worked for the Chattanooga Free-Press and the Chattanooga Times Free Press for 22 years. Free-Press Sports Editor Roy Exum plucked him out of production in 1989 and gave him a job as a sports reporter. Dick covered everything from prep sports to the whitewater events on the Ocoee River for the 1996 Olympics. When Chattanooga's two paper's merged, he became the Crime Reporter covering both the Chattanooga Police and Fire Departments. He was among reporters who were honored by the Associated Press for the TFP's coverage of the 2002 fog-shrouded crash on I-75 in Catoosa County, Dick and his wife, Cathy, live on Marlboro Avenue where they are seen frequently chasing around their three grandsons.