THOMPSON'S STATION – Despite a two-hour delay and more interruptions in the first half, the Nolensville High School boys soccer team's momentum continued Friday night in the District 10-AAA quarterfinals against second-seeded Independence.
The Knights, the seventh-seeded team in the tournament, advanced to the regional semifinals with a 4-0 road victory.
“This is a great team win,” Nolensville sophomore JD Kuhlman said after scoring the first two goals Friday. “We’ve been counted out so many times.”
“We're going full speed ahead,” added senior Adrian Biersima, who also scored for the Knights. “We came with everything we had.”
The contest was scheduled to begin at 6 p.m., but the start was postponed to 8 p.m. due to lightning. The teams played 23 minutes in the first half, but lightning interrupted play for another 40 minutes.
The late night did not interfere with Nolensville's final line.
“It's a makeshift backline, but there's a lot of heart in it,” Biyasima said proudly.
Nolensville Senior's starting goalie, Nick Bianchi, kept a clean sheet in the game, stopping two penalty shots in the 5th and 45th minutes.
“Nick hasn't had the opportunity to play for the national team in recent years,” Biersima said. “This season he was giving it his all. He's come a long way over the years.”
Kuhlmann scored in the 14th and 35th minutes, lightly tapping the ball into the back of the net for his first goal and slipping it into the bottom right corner for his second, after the first half was extended well thanks to the weather. We won -0. .
“After I scored the first goal, it was just a connection,” Kuhlman said. “Adrian prepared us perfectly for the first game.”
Nolensville continued to dominate the game, extending its lead to 3-0 in the 48th inning when sophomore Diego Alaniz picked up a loose change off a rebound and put it in the back of the net.
The Knights' winning goal came on a well-placed shot by Biasima into the left corner over a long diving shot from the Independence keeper. The Eagles had several chances in the contest, with most of the shots hitting Bianchi's hands.
With the single-elimination loss, Independence's season ends with a record of 14 wins, 2 losses, and 1 draw. Independence's only loss thus far was to Brentwood, the area's top seed and two-time defending state champion.
The Bruins advanced with a 2-0 win over No. 8 Summit on Friday night. Brentwood will host the regional semifinals on Tuesday and the final on Thursday.
With the win, the Knights improve their overall record to 8-7-1 and will play Ravenwood on Tuesday. Nolensville lost 2-1 in its last game against the Raptors on March 28th.
“The last five minutes we were up 1-0 against Ravenwood and they scored two goals on us,” Kuhlman said. “If we go into the game as prepared as we were in this game, we can win.”
On Friday, No. 3 seed Ravenwood defeated No. 6 seed Centennial 2-1, also enduring a delay to advance. Spencer Brown and Aiden Carothers scored the home team's two goals, both coming in the first half.
In the other quarterfinal game, No. 4 Franklin defeated No. 5 Page with a 5-0 shutout victory, giving No. 1 Brentwood another shot. Both rivals ended in a scoreless draw in the regular season.
Keeper Aidan Moss stopped six shots for the Admirals, and Davis Long scored two goals and assisted on another. Caleb Moss added two goals and Brevin Miner also scored for host Franklin.