Bristol, Tennessee. – Stonecastle is undergoing renovations and there is a lot of construction equipment behind the fence surrounding the historic stadium’s playing surface, but on Monday night the boys soccer team that calls it home was in every sense of the word. It was completely healthy.
Tennessee High School sophomore goaltender Milo Ochoa held off opponents and senior James Bowling was the key player for the Vikings as THS defeated the Virginia High School Bearcats 4-0 in a battle of rivals in Bristol. The reason for this is shown once again.
Tennessee High School (3-2-1) scored all four of its goals in the final 18 1/2 minutes of the first half, avenging last year's 2-0 loss to the Bearcats.
“I think it comes down to effort,” Bowling said. “We've lacked that the last few games, but knowing the rivalry and what happened last year, we didn't want a repeat of the same thing. We just kind of turned it on. I just did it.”
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After a bowling throw-in, THS won on an own goal when a Virginia High School player deflected a shot.
“When we conceded an own goal and it turned into a first goal,” Virginia High School coach Kevin Wright said. “You can see that the momentum has changed.”
Eight minutes later, Boling scored a goal with a free kick.
“He did a great job on free kicks,” Wright said. “It was a bit of a subtle foul on the edge of the box. With such a quality player, we knew he would get rid of it, so that was what we were worried about.”
Bowling has a habit of troubling opposing coaches by playing high-quality plays.
“James is the backbone of our team and a phenomenal player,” Tennessee High School coach Hunter Meade said. “He's the only senior on the field right now and he ignites the tempo of the game. He's a true leader on the field. He's definitely pushed us forward.”
How does Mr. Bowling feel upon hearing such praise?
“I try to stay humble,” Bowling said. “I don't try to make it a one-man show. I'm here to help everyone play well. At the end of the day, I want us all to be a team and work together.” .”
Junior Josh Llewellyn capitalized on a teammate's mistake with a header for the goal with six minutes left in the first half, and junior Ryan Fish scored the winning goal a few minutes later.
“We found a spark and our members grew in confidence,” Mead said. “When you see the ball hit the back of the net, you see the team's morale change and they start passing and connecting with each other. They start playing like they know they can. Sometimes you leave a team alone for too long and the momentum changes and the game changes quickly. I was happy to see them put it together tonight.”
Meanwhile, Ochoa recovered from a breakaway by a Virginia High School player just before halftime and made a spectacular stop to preserve the shutout.
“He evaded my defender and I was trying to get out,” Ochoa said. “But I decided to stay at the goal and see if it went my way, and it did.”
Ochoa started the season as a backup for senior Elijah Knowles, who went down with an injury a few weeks ago.
“It was tough,” Ochoa said. “I was worried about not playing football this year because I didn't want to be the second man. It's unfortunate that Knowles is injured, but it's also an opportunity for me to prove myself.”
He's done a great job as a starter so far.
“He did pretty well,” Mead said. “He made some killer saves, not just in this game, but in the other two shutouts we had. He's been huge for us.”
Bowling added to the long list of men who gave Ochoa props Monday.
“You’ve got to hand it to him,” Bowling said. “He stepped in and came up big. He made some tremendous stops when we really needed them.”
Virginia High School (1-3) went 19-1-1 last season, winning the Southwest District and Regional 2D titles and advancing to the VHSL Class 2 state tournament.
The Bearcats lost some key personnel from that team.
“We're young,” Wright said. “When you look at the leadership of this team, almost all of them are sophomores. We have great players who played at Johnson City FC and Tri-Cities United. [in the offseason]However, most of the players are sophomores in high school who are developing their identities not only on the soccer field, but also as people.
“When you encounter adversity like this in a game, it's hard to adjust to it on the fly, especially for a sophomore. But this is a growth and teachable moment that we can use to move forward. We're coming back. …Our non-district schedule is always pretty tough. We're trying to get ready for districts, regionals and hopefully state.”
Meade, a former Virginia high school football player and coach, can relate to the Vikings' unique type of roster construction in 2023.
“Last year was a year of growth and we had a lot of youth,” Mead said. “We relied on eight freshmen and sophomores as starters. Those guys will be back this year as well. We lost one senior. There were a few games where we struggled, but overall we played three or four out of six games. It was a shutout. There were some tough games, but overall I'm really happy with how the team played.”
Tennessee High School will host another rival on Tuesday when the Sullivan East Patriots come to town.
The Vikings must be happy with the direction they're headed and hope to follow a blueprint similar to the one used to get the job done on Monday.
“Sure,” Bowling said. “After a performance like this with that kind of energy. I think if we can do that every game, we'll be in a really good position.”
