CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. – The Cascade Lady Champions (15-3-1, 8-0-0) saw their season come to a close against the Merrol Hyde Lady Hawks (15-3-1, 1-0-0), 5-0, in the quarterfinals of the TSSAA Class A State Tournament at Chattanooga Christian School on Tuesday afternoon. 

“They [Merrol Hyde] are very good at the simple things and don't make a lot of mistakes,” Lady Champions Head Coach Wendy Williams said postgame, “They play well together, they have great touches, they’re good with their movements, and that’s how they dominate.”

“We watched film and we saw that they prey on bad touches. We knew that coming in. Our goal was to fight and make it as hard as we possibly could.”

Peyton Evans netted a hat trick to lead the way for the defending State Champions Merrol Hyde, opening the scoring in the 6th minute before doubling the Lady Hawks’ lead just three minutes later. However, despite threatening the Cascade goal multiple times across the following half hour, the Lady Champs held on defensively just enough to reach halftime down by just two goals and with an opportunity to find a way back into the game.

“We asked a lot out of our backline,” Williams acknowledged. “Not one of them played defense last year, so this was a learning experience for them and they pretty much dominated for the majority of the season. They work well together, they all have great attitudes, and our team as a whole was willing to sacrifice and play wherever we asked them to just to make it work for the team.”

After generating a couple half-chances that forced routine saves out of Merrol Hyde’s goalkeeper, Emma Kate O’Neill, the Lady Hawks settled back in and controlled the game much like the first half. Merrol Hyde held Lexi Comstock – who scored a record-breaking 32 goals this season – from generating even a single shot on goal as part of a larger defensive effort limiting Cascade’s attacking threats.

Gabby Cruz, coming into Tuesday with a team-best 26 goals scored on the season, finally broke the second half seal in the 62nd minute with a powerful left-footed shot that beat Makenzie Fisher to her far post, extending the Lady Hawks’ lead to 3-0.

Evans completed her hat trick in the 81st minute by volleying home a cross from Cruz before returning the favor with an assist on Cruz’s second goal of the game in the 88th minute to reach the final scoreline of 5-0.

Despite the loss, Cascade finishes 2025 as the Region 5A Champions and its third consecutive state tournament appearance. 

“What I’ll remember the most about this team is their heart, their resiliency, and their willingness to push past being comfortable,” Williams said. “They were willing to do whatever it took to make our team successful, and they would sacrifice themselves for the good of the team. They love each other so they did it for each other.”

The Lady Champions graduate just two seniors in Ella McGeary and Kaydence Bynum, so despite losing an impactful pair of players, Cascade will have high hopes heading into 2026.