GIRLS SOCCER: Tennessee High Battles to Tie With ‘Toppers

BRISTOL, Tenn. — Ice Brown and her Tennessee High teammates had to settle for a tie score on Tuesday night. However, Brown left little doubt that she is one of the top girls soccer players in Northeast Tennessee.

Brown scored two goals as THS battled to a 3-3 tie with rival Science Hill at the Stone Castle.

Brown scored with 27:11 left in the first quarter and then added another goal on a nice shot with 29:46 remaining in the match. However, Science Hill answered each goal.

“We were pretty fired up at the beginning of the game, knowing that Tennessee High’s never beaten Science Hill in history in girls soccer,” Brown said. “We were pretty pumped …
We played a really great game, until a couple of loose balls went in and not playing to the whistle.”

Brown continually beat her defenders from Science Hill with her speed and brute force.

“She’s tough,” Tennessee High coach Kevin Mooney said. “She’s hard to get a handle on and she’s strong as an ox. She’s a smart player and you can’t give her much space or she’ll make you pay.”

After she scored her first goal, several coaches on the Science Hill bench pleaded with their team to stick with Brown. It still didn’t work.

“I always have two people on me or one person stuck on me,” Brown said “It makes me excited and makes me work that much harder.”

Brown’s second goal gave THS (8-6-2) a 3-2 lead and it appeared that might hold up. But Science Hill scored the game-tying goal with just four minutes left in regulation.

“I felt like we definitely could have finished that game off,” Mooney said. “The goals they got were, in my opinion, gifts. I’ve got to do a better job of coaching the girls up and making sure stuff like that doesn’t happen … The girls worked their tails off and I felt like they really deserved to win that one, just an unfortunate circumstance at the end.”

The outcome was once again a familiar scenario for THS. The Vikings have lost to the Hilltoppers the past two years in the semifinals of the District 1-AAA tournament.

“Every single year we lose in the last 10 minutes,” said Tennessee High senior Taylor Miller, who scored the Vikings’ other goal. “So it was exciting to at least tie … Hopefully, next time we play them it will be better.”

As for Brown, the senior forward with the cool nickname will look to keep hustling, scoring and wreaking havoc on opposing defenses.

“I try to hustle and do as much as I can for my team and keep them fired up,” Brown said.