Caio Hysinger easily slipped a penalty kick past the East Ridge keeper with 11 minutes left in the first half. And it looked for a while as though the Mustangs would shift the momentum held by the Pioneers and break the 1-1 deadlock.

But, it was East Ridge that broke the tie mere seconds before the first-half whistle and with five second-half goals, Walker Valley’s senior night and regular season faded away with a 7-1 loss.

“I was hoping we would find some kind of spark because we started out extremely stale and stagnant,” said a disappointed Walker Valley coach Tom Bayliss. “I can’t understand, you’ve got a game, show up to play. We just didn’t show up to play today. I don’t know if we are looking to the tournament and hoping to do well. But, you definitely don’t want a 7-1 loss heading into the district tournament.”

The Pioneers scored their first goal five minutes into the first half and their second at the end of the half. The third East Ridge score came nine minutes into the second half and before the final whistle, the Pioneers added four more goals to their final total.

Bayliss said afterward he knows the Mustangs have the talent and skill to win at soccer and hopes all their hard work will pay some dividends in the upcoming District 5-AAA tournament.

“I believe in them. I told them, ‘I’ve had belief in you all season long, but I don’t lace up and play the game with you. Ultimately they’ve got to come out, and in soccer I think more so than any sport, it’s their deal. You have 40 minutes and no timeouts. I’ve taught them and they just need to go do it,” said Bayliss.