Lady Pioneers Fall in Region Soccer

Despite a furious second-half comeback, the East Ridge girls soccer team fell to McMinn Central, 5-3, Tuesday in the semifinals of the Region AA Soccer Tournament.

The Lady Pioneers were down 3-0 at halftime, before getting on the board with five minutes gone in the second half. Kendall Dickson had 2 goals for the Lady Pioneers, while Ana Villegas had one goal.

Coach Jeremy McIntyre said his team was “all in” in the second half and had switched the momentum of the contest, pulling within a 4-3 score with just over five minutes left in the game.

“McMinn was a really good team and we almost came back,” McIntyre said via email. “It was a good game and a great season.

“District Champions! Only one other East Ridge High girls’ soccer team can say that,” he added. “This was one of the most fun seasons I have had and I am so proud of this team.”

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.