How Harpeth Hall captured TSSAA girls soccer state championship in DII-AA over CPA

Harpeth Hall outlasted Christ Presbyterian Academy, 2-1, to capture the 2026 TSSAA girls soccer state championship in Division II-AA at Finley Stadium in Chattanooga on Oct. 29.It's the first championship for Harpeth Hall since 2021 and the program's third overall, including its 2013 title. It was the Honeybears' first state tournament appearance since 2024 and first state championship appearance since 2023.Harpeth Hall upset three-time defending state champion Baylor, 1-0, in the semifinals on Oct. 28 to advance to the championship.Alexa Sarb and Olivia Grace Akatue scored Harpeth Hall's two goals. But it was CPA's Livi Langan that opened the scoring with a goal 7:31 into the game. That came off a CPA corner kick 30 seconds earlier as CPA chased its first state title since 2018.Harpeth Hall (17-8-4) would slowly build momentum after giving up that opening goal, taking four of the next five shots in the game before Akatue's equalizer in the 27th minute off an assist from Sarb.Sarb would break that tie in the 67th minute on an unassisted goal to give the Honeybears a 2-1 lead. Their defense controlled the final 13 minutes of the game as CPA (14-6) got off only one shot the rest of the way.The Lady Lions outshot Harpeth Hall 12-10 in the match but Honeybears goalie Penny Hemmingway finished with six saves and her team survived five CPA corner kicks.This story will be updated with results from the DII-A championship game between Battle Ground Academy and Boyd Buchanan on Oct. 29.Reach The Tennessean's high school sports editor, George Robinson, at georgerobinsontheleafchronicle.com and on the X platform (formerly Twitter) @Cville_Sports. This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: How Harpeth Hall captured TSSAA girls soccer state championship in DII-AA over CPA