UNIONVILLE — The Community Viqueens carried a lead into the second half, but two goals by the Chattanooga School for the Arts & Sciences Lady Patriots in the final 20 minutes turned the tide as the Viqueens fell 4-3 in the finals of the Region 3-A soccer tournament Thursday night.
Community (12-3-1) fell behind early as the Lady Patriots scored the first goal of the game. The Viqueens could not clear a corner kick and CSAS capitalized with a successful try in front of the net to take a 1-0 lead with 32:58 left in the first half.
The Viqueens bounced back five minutes later as Taylar Wessner took a rebound off the CSAS keeper and found the back of the net to knot the game at 1-1.
Community took a 2-1 lead as Zoey Dixon was successful on a penalty kick with 16:41 remaining to give the Viqueens their first lead of the game.
After the Lady Patriots tied the game at 2-2 on a corner kick at the 11:08 mark, the Viqueens took the lead and carried it into the intermission as Wessner scored her second goal of the game with 1:55 left.
The Viqueens were able to control the ball and stay on the Lady Patriot end of the field for a majority of the second half, but Community could not add to its lead before the Lady Patriots struck back.
After the Viqueens turned the ball over on their end of the field, CSAS recovered and scored to tie the game at 3-3 with 17:57 remaining.
With both teams battling for the go-ahead goal, the game remained tied until the Lady Patriots beat the Viqueen defense back on a breakaway and scored with 4:16 remaining to give CSAS a 4-3 lead.
The Viqueens challenged but could not score down the stretch as the Lady Patriots held on for the win.
"I think we played 80 minutes of great soccer," Coach Chris Brothers of the Viqueens said. "I think we had more shots than they did, especially in the second half and controlled the ball and had plenty of opportunities."
"They were a very physical team and a good team. We knew that coming in," Brothers added.
"As I told our team before the game, they score a lot of goals," Brothers said. "We can't get down and we've just got to keep coming back."
"That's what I'm proud of. We never quit and we kept coming back," Brothers added. "We had the lead for a long, long period of time and thought we were going to hold on to it but they got a break and we didn't."
Community advanced to the Class A sectional at Merrol Hyde on Saturday but for nine seniors on the Viqueen roster, it was the final game they would play for the Purple and Gold as the Lady Hawks ended Community’s season with a 9-0 win.
“We faced a really good Merrol Hyde team, in my opinion probably the best team in the state. Even though the score didn’t reflect it, I was proud of how our girls played. It was a tough game on Thursday night that took a toll on us. We didn’t seem to have as much of our legs under us,” Brothers said.
Saturday’s game marked the end of what’s been a highly successful era of Viqueen soccer, thanks in no small part to the efforts of the senior class.
“As far as our seniors go, words can’t really describe what they mean to this team and what they’ve meant to me. Some of these girls I’ve coached since the were in elementary school,” Brothers said.
“Watching them grow together and become the soccer players they are has been a real joy.
Abby Murrill started playing when she was a sophomore who is just a great athlete and maybe the best defensive player I’ve ever coached. Addison Brothers is always our calm head out on the field, controlling the midfield and making passes, and being able to score.Then Zoey Dixon is a versatile player able to play any position on the field and has throughout the year. She was our leading scorer and broke the record for most goals scored in a season.”
Brothers added comments about the rest of the senior class and just what they’ve meant to the program.
“Then Riley Peterson has been a great defensive player who plays hard. Jennifer DeLeon is the same thing, just has a great attitude and a great player. Chloe West is a hard worker and always ready to play in goal as our backup and did a great job of that. Rocio Barrio had great speed and always finds a way to score. Angela (Castoreno) has a great attitude and is always ready to go.
Ashley (Harper) is a first-year player but always had a great attitude and I’m proud of her progress,” he said.
“It’s hard to put into words what these seniors mean. They have two district championships under their belts and two region runners up and two sectional appearances. They’re going to be hard to replace and will be missed very much. I was blessed to get to be their coach and part of their team this year,” he said.
“They’ve just been a joy to coach.”
Community closes the season with a district title, region runner up and state sectional appearance and with an overall record of 12-4-1.

CSAS 2 2 — 4
Community 3 0 — 3

First Half
CSAS – Goal (32:58).
Com – Taylar Wessner goal (28:01).
Com – Zoey Dixon penalty kick goal (16:41).
CSAS – Goal on corner kick (11:08).
Com – Wessner goal (1:55).

Second Half
CSAS – Goal (17:57).
CSAS – Goal (4:16).