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The Franklin County High School girls soccer team is state-bound for a third year in a row after defeating the Alcoa Lady Tornadoes 1-0 in a sub-state matchup Saturday afternoon at home.

The margin of victory came with 5:17 left in the game when Osiris Rodriguez connected on a corner kick from the left side which bent inside of the right goalpost to give Franklin County the winning edge. It was the 17^th goal of the season for Rodriguez.

Rodriguez also nearly scored earlier on a free kick, and Cali Banks was also close with a shot on goal in the low-scoring matchup.

Franklin County head soccer coach Kent Bean said the victory is welcome, but now it’s on to the state tournament in Chattanooga this coming week as one of Tennessee’s top eight remaining Class AA teams that will be vying for a state title.

“What I like most about it is that we’ve been there before, and we’ve still got a young team,” Bean said, adding that if this year doesn’t garner the victory charm, there’s bound to be other opportunities in the future. “We’ve got a good shot at it.”

Bean paid tribute to goalkeeper Brenna Carroll for doing an outstanding job in the contest as well as defenders Mollye Casey, Sadie Moore, Savannah Parkerson, Karly Neal and Madi Morris who staved off repeated offensive threats from Alcoa to record the team’s 12^th shutout of the campaign.

With the win, Franklin County improved to 17-3-1 on the season.

The girls soccer team will next play Wednesday against Station Camp High School at Baylor School in a quarterfinal game for the Class AA state tournament. Kickoff is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. EST.