CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. – After overcoming the loss of their leading goalscorer to win the program’s first-ever state tournament game, the No. 3 seed Cascade Lady Champions (17-2-2, 8-0) saw their season end at the hands of a familiar foe in No. 2 seed Merrol Hyde (19-2-1, 2-0), 6-0, on Wednesday night at Boyd-Buchanan School.

Kenley Reeder opened the scoring for the Hawks in the third minute, then secured her brace in the fourth minute thanks to a deft assist from Peyton Evans to take a 2-0 lead before the Lady Champs even knew what had hit them.

“Merrol Hyde, their movement off the ball, their touches, their passing, their talking, everything is almost perfect,” Cascade Head Coach Wendy Williams said postgame, “They are the epitome of what you want a team to be. That’s just another caliber of team, and our girls don’t face anything close to that all season until we get here, so it’s hard to prepare them because that is next-level.”

After more than a half-hour of resistance from Cascade, Gabby Cruz scored in the 36th minute from long range before she struck again one minute later for her team-leading her 25th goal of the season to give the Hawks a 4-0 lead heading into the halftime break.

 Merrol Hyde was awarded a penalty in the 56th minute that Jaylin Baxter put away, and then in the 56th minute Peyton Evans poked home her third goal at state to reach the final margin of 6-0.

Makenzie Fisher recorded a season-high 13 saves in Cascade’s goal as the Merrol Hyde attacking onslaught was sustained for a good 70 minutes before mass substitutions were made. With the win, the Hawks – who are playing in their 10th consecutive state tournament – advance to their eighth state championship game, and will be looking for their fourth state title on Friday morning against Westview.

Cascade, who won both the District 9-A and Region 5-A championships without Lexi Comstock, showed impressive mental fortitude to rally and make history by winning the program’s first-ever state tournament game after four years of knocking.

“I think that they were sad for Lexi and kind of grieving the loss of her, but at the same time they used the situation to motivate them,” Williams said about the October 1st incident, “It was a horrible situation, and we never would have wished for it, but the girls showed a lot of strength and a lot of character coming out of it pushing into the postseason and doing what they did.”

The Lady Champions graduate three seniors from the 2026 squad. All three played significant minutes as starters, and they laid a foundation of success that has never been seen before in the program’s history. For the first time ever, one class saw all four seasons end in Chattanooga at the state tournament.

“We’re gonna miss them,” Williams said about Claire Smithson, Kyla Pulley, and Brinlee Collet, “They are such a big reason for why we are where we are, as well as the mentality and morale of the team. They motivate everyone, they keep everyone pushing. I think our junior class is going to step up, but these seniors are special in their leadership and their heart. They’ll be hard to replace.”

Despite the three holes being left behind, Williams is optimistic about her talented junior class that will be moving up into senior leadership positions next year.

“We have such a strong junior class, and I think that they’re going to be excellent leaders,” she said, “They’re going to push for the same amount of excellence that these seniors pushed for. I think that they all bring different things to the table and different styles of leadership, so I think that they are going to mold the team into a winning team again. The standard has been set, and these juniors really want to rise and achieve great things.”

Finally, Williams shared what made this 2026 iteration of Cascade Lady Champions soccer so special to her as a coach.

“This group just would not accept defeat,” she said, “They could not give up. They were always going to make it happen, and it was just amazing to watch. We might be down and we might be struggling, yet they were going to pull it out somehow.”

With Wednesday’s loss, Cascade’s season ends in the TSSAA Class A State Semifinal as District 9-A and Region 5-A champions with an overall record of 17-2-2.