Bearden’s boys soccer team saw its unblemished start to 2025 come to an end with a 1-0 loss to Catholic in the Bearden Invitational on April 5, but the Bulldogs have not let the loss rattle their confidence.
Instead, they’ve taken it as a learning experience.
Bearden has responded with three straight wins against Heritage (10-1), West (4-0), and Maryville (4-0).
“I think it will prepare us well for the rest of the year because it acts as a wake up call for us,” senior captain Noah Price said. “It motivates us to play better and hold ourselves to a high standard.”
Added Coach Ryan Radcliffe: “If we can use it the right way, it might be the best thing that happened to us this year.”
The Bulldogs still have three games left before the postseason, including a trip to rival Farragut on Friday.
“I think the Catholic game gave us a hard wake-up call,” junior goalkeeper Eli Keener said. “It showed us that even the games that we think will be easy, will challenge us and force us to play our best every single game.”
The team had a bumpy regular season in 2024, but remained confident and determined on their way to winning the 2024 State Championship. The boys believe that this season will be similar in obstacles they will have to overcome, yet they have no doubt they will be able to get through them.
“Last season, we had to overcome a lot of things, and I think that’ll help paint a picture this year that it’ll be the same way,” Price said.
Added Coach Radcliffe: “You use a lot of the parallels from last year when we won and struggled through the adversity.”
Bearden’s run to defend last year’s state crown and win a seventh state title will begin in May after wrapping up the regular season against Science Hill on May 1.
“I think us winning it all last season showed us even when we have down moments, we can still come out on top,” Keener said.
The team camaraderie as a whole has allowed them to come together to get through rough parts of their season.
“When you respect and have that long lasting friendship with your teammates,” Coach Radcliffe said, “you have that drive for each other.”